Project Details
Description / Abstract
Fatty acid coenzyme As (acyl-CoAs) ubiquitously exist in living organisms and play central roles in many biochemical reactions. Abnormal accumulation of acyl-CoAs in cells are often the diagnostic symptoms for many diseases (i.e. human metabolic diseases including diabetes, fatty acid oxidation deficiency (FAOD), and cancers). Considerable efforts have gone into developing potential diagnostic tools to measure acyl CoAs so far and yet the outcomes are far from ideal.
Acyl CoAs are also the key precursors for microbial fermentation of fatty acid-derived chemicals. Currently many of these chemicals are prepared from fossil-derived feedstocks which require energy intensive processing, and are considered by many as non-sustainable for the future. In this respect, microbial fermentation is an attractive alternative to produce these commodity chemicals and enhanced acyl CoA production is associated with increased production of fatty acid derived chemicals in engineered microbes. In making acyl CoA enhanced, a key challenge is often to quantify the levels of acyl CoA among engineered microbes but researchers have yet to find a reliable way of doing this.
In this study, we are going to investigate an enzyme-based system that has the ability to convert acyl-CoAs into coloured aromatic compounds under mild conditions. These aromatic compounds are common motifs in dye materials. Consequently, the incorporation of our enzymatic system into biological samples will offer a versatile and convenient assay to measure acyl CoA concentration within the given samples. The use of bacterial enzymes to accomplish chemical tasks is well established in the food industry. The benefits in terms of sustainable manufacturing are well documented. However, the application of enzymatic processes/industrial biotechnology processes are still underdeveloped in the fine chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and bioscience industries. By working out the catalytic capabilities of the two novel enzymes involved in transforming acyl CoAs into coloured aromatic compounds, we will gain the ability to develop their biotechnological potential to be used as a new sensitive assay that will enable us to directly measure acyl CoAs in various biological samples.
Acyl CoAs are also the key precursors for microbial fermentation of fatty acid-derived chemicals. Currently many of these chemicals are prepared from fossil-derived feedstocks which require energy intensive processing, and are considered by many as non-sustainable for the future. In this respect, microbial fermentation is an attractive alternative to produce these commodity chemicals and enhanced acyl CoA production is associated with increased production of fatty acid derived chemicals in engineered microbes. In making acyl CoA enhanced, a key challenge is often to quantify the levels of acyl CoA among engineered microbes but researchers have yet to find a reliable way of doing this.
In this study, we are going to investigate an enzyme-based system that has the ability to convert acyl-CoAs into coloured aromatic compounds under mild conditions. These aromatic compounds are common motifs in dye materials. Consequently, the incorporation of our enzymatic system into biological samples will offer a versatile and convenient assay to measure acyl CoA concentration within the given samples. The use of bacterial enzymes to accomplish chemical tasks is well established in the food industry. The benefits in terms of sustainable manufacturing are well documented. However, the application of enzymatic processes/industrial biotechnology processes are still underdeveloped in the fine chemical, pharmaceutical, agricultural and bioscience industries. By working out the catalytic capabilities of the two novel enzymes involved in transforming acyl CoAs into coloured aromatic compounds, we will gain the ability to develop their biotechnological potential to be used as a new sensitive assay that will enable us to directly measure acyl CoAs in various biological samples.
| Status | Finished |
|---|---|
| Effective start/end date | 1/05/18 → 30/04/21 |
| Links | https://gtr.ukri.org:443/projects?ref=BB%2FR00479X%2F1 |