The gut microbiome tango in the progression of chronic kidney disease and potential therapeutic strategies.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) affects more than 10% population worldwide and becomes a huge burden to the world. Recent studies have revealed multifold interactions between CKD and gut microbiome and their pathophysiological implications. The gut microbiome disturbed by CKD results in the imbalanced composition and quantity of gut microbiota and subsequent changes in its metabolites and functions.

Directed Evolution and Rational Design of Mechanosensitive Channel MscCG2 for Improved Glutamate Excretion Efficiency.

Mechanosensitive amino acid exporters have drawn increasing attention due to their important roles in extracellular accumulation of the target amino acids. Protein engineering is a powerful approach to tailor the properties of amino acid exporters and illustrate structure-function relationships. Here we report the first protein engineering effort on the mechanosensitive glutamate exporter MscCG2 from for improved excretion efficiency of glutamate and understanding of the structure-function relationship.

Cell-free chemoenzymatic starch synthesis from carbon dioxide.

Starches, a storage form of carbohydrates, are a major source of calories in the human diet and a primary feedstock for bioindustry. We report a chemical-biochemical hybrid pathway for starch synthesis from carbon dioxide (CO) and hydrogen in a cell-free system. The artificial starch anabolic pathway (ASAP), consisting of 11 core reactions, was drafted by computational pathway design, established through modular assembly and substitution, and optimized by protein engineering of three bottleneck-associated enzymes.

Bromide-Mediated C-H Bond Functionalization: Intermolecular Annulation of Phenylethanone Derivatives with Alkynes for the Synthesis of 1-Naphthols.

Bromide-mediated intermolecular annulation of phenylethanone derivatives with alkynes has been developed, which allows for the regioselective formation of polysubstituted 1-naphthols. The usage of readily available bromine catalyst, broad substrate scope, and mild conditions make this protocol very practical. Mechanistic investigations reveal that the bromination of phenylethanone derivatives occurs to yield bromo-substituted intermediates, which react in situ with alkynes to furnish the desired 1-naphthols.