Academic literature on the topic 'Microorganisms. Steroids. Cholesterol'

The metabolism of cholesterol is critical in eukaryotes as a precursor for vitamins, steroid hormones, and bile acids. Some steroid compounds can be transformed into precursors of steroid medicine by some microorganisms. In this study, the biotransformation products of cholesterol and 16α,17α-epoxypregnenolone produced byBurkholderia cepaciaSE-1 were investigated, and a correlative enzyme, hydroxylase, was also studied. The biotransformation products, 7β-hydroxycholesterol, 7-oxocholesterol, and 20-droxyl-16α,17α-epoxypregn-1,4-dien-3-one, were purified by silica gel and Sephadex LH-20 column chromatography and identified by nuclear magnetic resonance and mass spectroscopy. The hydroxylase was isolated from the bacterium and the partial sequences of the hydroxylase, which belong to the catalases/peroxidase family, were analyzed using MS/MS analyses. The enzyme showed activity toward cholesterol and had a specific activity of 37.2 U/mg of protein at 30°C and pH 7.0.

Ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) is a pharmaceutical ingredient widely used in clinics. As bile acid it solubilizes cholesterol gallstones and improves the liver function in case of cholestatic diseases. UDCA can be obtained from cholic acid (CA), which is the most abundant and least expensive bile acid available. The now available chemical routes for the obtainment of UDCA yield about 30% of final product. For these syntheses several protection and deprotection steps requiring toxic and dangerous reagents have to be performed, leading to the production of a series of waste products. In many cases the cholic acid itself first needs to be prepared from its taurinated and glycilated derivatives in the bile, thus adding to the complexity and multitude of steps involved of the synthetic process. For these reasons, several studies have been performed towards the development of microbial transformations or chemoenzymatic procedures for the synthesis of UDCA starting from CA or chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA). This promising approach led several research groups to focus their attention on the development of biotransformations with non-pathogenic, easy-to-manage microorganisms, and their enzymes. In particular, the enzymatic reactions involved are selective hydrolysis, epimerization of the hydroxy functions (by oxidation and subsequent reduction) and the specific hydroxylation and dehydroxylation of suitable positions in the steroid rings. In this minireview, we critically analyze the state of the art of the production of UDCA by several chemical, chemoenzymatic and enzymatic routes reported, highlighting the bottlenecks of each production step. Particular attention is placed on the precursors availability as well as the substrate loading in the process. Potential new routes and recent developments are discussed, in particular on the employment of flow-reactors. The latter technology allows to develop processes with shorter reaction times and lower costs for the chemical and enzymatic reactions involved.

ABSTRACT Steroids are ubiquitous in natural environments and are a significant growth substrate for microorganisms. Microbial steroid metabolism is also important for some pathogens and for biotechnical applications. This study delineated the distribution of aerobic steroid catabolism pathways among over 8,000 microorganisms whose genomes are available in the NCBI RefSeq database. Combined analysis of bacterial, archaeal, and fungal genomes with both hidden Markov models and reciprocal BLAST identified 265 putative steroid degraders within only Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria , which mainly originated from soil, eukaryotic host, and aquatic environments. These bacteria include members of 17 genera not previously known to contain steroid degraders. A pathway for cholesterol degradation was conserved in many actinobacterial genera, particularly in members of the Corynebacterineae , and a pathway for cholate degradation was conserved in members of the genus Rhodococcus . A pathway for testosterone and, sometimes, cholate degradation had a patchy distribution among Proteobacteria . The steroid degradation genes tended to occur within large gene clusters. Growth experiments confirmed bioinformatic predictions of steroid metabolism capacity in nine bacterial strains. The results indicate there was a single ancestral 9,10-seco-steroid degradation pathway. Gene duplication, likely in a progenitor of Rhodococcus , later gave rise to a cholate degradation pathway. Proteobacteria and additional Actinobacteria subsequently obtained a cholate degradation pathway via horizontal gene transfer, in some cases facilitated by plasmids. Catabolism of steroids appears to be an important component of the ecological niches of broad groups of Actinobacteria and individual species of Proteobacteria . IMPORTANCE Steroids are ubiquitous growth substrates for environmental and pathogenic bacteria, and bacterial steroid metabolism has important pharmaceutical and health applications. To date, the genetics and biochemistry of microbial steroid degradation have mainly been studied in a few model bacteria, and the diversity of this metabolism remains largely unexplored. Here, we provide a bioinformatically derived perspective of the taxonomic distribution of aerobic microbial steroid catabolism pathways. We identified several novel steroid-degrading bacterial groups, including ones from marine environments. In several cases, we confirmed bioinformatic predictions of metabolism in cultures. We found that cholesterol and cholate catabolism pathways are highly conserved among certain actinobacterial taxa. We found evidence for horizontal transfer of a pathway to several proteobacterial genera, conferring testosterone and, sometimes, cholate catabolism. The results of this study greatly expand our ecological and evolutionary understanding of microbial steroid metabolism and provide a basis for better exploiting this metabolism for biotechnology.

ABSTRACTThe 2,3-secopathway, the pathway for anaerobic cholesterol degradation, has been established in the denitrifying betaproteobacteriumSterolibacterium denitrificans. However, knowledge of how microorganisms respond to cholesterol at the community level is elusive. Here, we applied mesocosm incubation and 16S rRNA sequencing to reveal that, in denitrifying sludge communities, three betaproteobacterial operational taxonomic units (OTUs) with low (94% to 95%) 16S rRNA sequence similarity toStl. denitrificansare cholesterol degraders and members of the rare biosphere. Metatranscriptomic and metabolite analyses show that these degraders adopt the 2,3-secopathway to sequentially catalyze the side chain and sterane of cholesterol and that two molybdoenzymes—steroid C25 dehydrogenase and 1-testosterone dehydrogenase/hydratase—are crucial for these bioprocesses, respectively. The metatranscriptome further suggests that these betaproteobacterial degraders display chemotaxis and motility toward cholesterol and that FadL-like transporters may be the key components for substrate uptake. Also, these betaproteobacteria are capable of transporting micronutrients and synthesizing cofactors essential for cellular metabolism and cholesterol degradation; however, the required cobalamin is possibly provided by cobalamin-de novo-synthesizing gamma-, delta-, and betaproteobacteria via the salvage pathway. Overall, our results indicate that the ability to degrade cholesterol in sludge communities is reserved for certain rare biosphere members and that C25 dehydrogenase can serve as a biomarker for sterol degradation in anoxic environments.IMPORTANCESteroids are ubiquitous and abundant natural compounds that display recalcitrance. Biodegradation via sludge communities in wastewater treatment plants is the primary removal process for steroids. To date, compared to studies for aerobic steroid degradation, the knowledge of anaerobic degradation of steroids has been based on only a few model organisms. Due to the increase of anthropogenic impacts, steroid inputs may affect microbial diversity and functioning in ecosystems. Here, we first investigated microbial functional responses to cholesterol, the most abundant steroid in sludge, at the community level. Our metagenomic and metatranscriptomic analyses revealed that the capacities for cholesterol approach, uptake, and degradation are unique traits of certain low-abundance betaproteobacteria, indicating the importance of the rare biosphere in bioremediation. Apparent expression of genes involved in cofactorde novosynthesis and salvage pathways suggests that these micronutrients play important roles for cholesterol degradation in sludge communities.

ABSTRACT Side chain-containing steroids are ubiquitous constituents of biological membranes that are persistent to biodegradation. Aerobic, steroid-degrading bacteria employ oxygenases for isoprenoid side chain and tetracyclic steran ring cleavage. In contrast, a Mo-containing steroid C-25 dehydrogenase (S25DH) of the dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) reductase family catalyzes the oxygen-independent hydroxylation of tertiary C-25 in the anaerobic, cholesterol-degrading bacterium Sterolibacterium denitrificans . Its genome contains eight paralogous genes encoding active site α-subunits of putative S25DH-like proteins. The difficult enrichment of labile, oxygen-sensitive S25DH from the wild-type bacteria and the inability of its active heterologous production have largely hampered the study of S25DH-like gene products. Here we established a heterologous expression platform for the three structural genes of S25DH subunits together with an essential chaperone in the denitrifying betaproteobacterium Thauera aromatica K172. Using this system, S25DH 1 and three isoenzymes (S25DH 2 , S25DH 3 , and S25DH 4 ) were overproduced in a soluble, active form allowing a straightforward purification of nontagged αβγ complexes. All S25DHs contained molybdenum, four [4Fe-4S] clusters, one [3Fe-4S] cluster, and heme B and catalyzed the specific, water-dependent C-25 hydroxylations of various 4-en-3-one forms of phytosterols and zoosterols. Crude extracts from T. aromatica expressing genes encoding S25DH 1 catalyzed the hydroxylation of vitamin D 3 (VD 3 ) to the clinically relevant 25-OH-VD 3 with >95% yield at a rate 6.5-fold higher than that of wild-type bacterial extracts; the specific activity of recombinant S25DH 1 was twofold higher than that of wild-type enzyme. These results demonstrate the potential application of the established expression platform for 25-OH-VD 3 synthesis and pave the way for the characterization of previously genetically inaccessible S25DH-like Mo enzymes of the DMSO reductase family. IMPORTANCE Steroids are ubiquitous bioactive compounds, some of which are considered an emerging class of micropollutants. Their degradation by microorganisms is the major process of steroid elimination from the environment. While oxygenase-dependent steroid degradation in aerobes has been studied for more than 40 years, initial insights into the anoxic steroid degradation have only recently been obtained. Molybdenum-dependent steroid C 25 dehydrogenases (S25DHs) have been proposed to catalyze oxygen-independent side chain hydroxylations of globally abundant zoo-, phyto-, and mycosterols; however, so far, their lability has allowed only the initial characterization of a single S25DH. Here we report on a heterologous gene expression platform that allowed for easy isolation and characterization of four highly active S25DH isoenzymes. The results obtained demonstrate the key role of S25DHs during anoxic degradation of various steroids. Moreover, the platform is valuable for the efficient enzymatic hydroxylation of vitamin D 3 to its clinically relevant C-25-OH form.

Background: Although the food quality of soy protein is known to be as good as that of animal proteins, some soybean proteins are not susceptible to digestion and remain undigested in the intestine. We hypothesized that digestion-resistant soy proteins might interact with the intestinal membrane, microbes, and metabolites, and change the intestinal physiology or the profile of the gut microbiome. Objective: To identify the protease-resistant soy proteins (PRSPs) and their interaction with intestinal membrane proteins by MS, and to assess the functions of PRSPs in the small intestine. Methods: Soy proteins were sequentially digested with pepsin and pancreatin, and the PRSPs were identified by SDS-PAGE and MS. Intestinal cell membrane proteins interacting with PRSPs were isolated by affinity purification and photo-affinity crosslinking, and identified using MS/MS. Inhibition of cholesterol absorption to lipoprotein-depleted intestinal cells, CaCo-2, and hepatic cells, HepG2, was measured in the presence and absence of PRSPs. FITC-conjugated Gram-positive, Lactobacillus plantarum, and Gram-negative bacteria, Escherichia coli, were incubated with CaCo-2 cells in the presence of PRSPs to investigate the regulation of bacterial cell binding to intestinal epithelial cells by PRSPs. Results: MS/MS of PRSPs identified glycinin, β-conglycinin, trypsin inhibitors, lipoxygenase, and sucrose-binding protein. MS analysis also identified the intestinal membrane proteins bound to PRSPs. The functions of the identified interacting proteins included ion transportation, carbohydrate-binding, cytoskeleton formation, hydrolysis, cell-cell junction formation, and cholesterol/steroid-binding. In particular, apolipoprotein E, aminopeptidase N, and Niemann-Pick C1-like protein 1 are known to be involved in cholesterol absorption in the small intestine. The inhibition of cholesterol absorption by CaCo-2 and HepG2 cells by PRSPs confirmed the MS results. Binding of L. plantarum and E. coli to CaCo-2 cells was efficiently inhibited by PRSPs. Conclusion: PRSPs can interact with intestinal membrane proteins, and regulate cholesterol absorption by intestinal epithelial cell and interactions of the gut microbiome. Soy protein in the intestine acts as a nutrient, and triggers changes in intestinal functions by interacting with intestinal cells, microorganisms, and nutrients. These findings will provide valuable new functional information about the effects of soy proteins on human health.

ABSTRACT 3-Ketosteroid 9α-hydroxylase (Ksh) consists of a terminal oxygenase (KshA) and a ferredoxin reductase and is indispensable in the cleavage of steroid nucleus in microorganisms. The activities of Kshs are crucial factors in determining the yield and distribution of products in the biotechnological transformation of sterols in industrial applications. In this study, two KshA homologues, KshA1 N and KshA2 N , were characterized and further engineered in a sterol-digesting strain, Mycobacterium neoaurum ATCC 25795, to construct androstenone-producing strains. kshA1 N is a member of the gene cluster encoding sterol catabolism enzymes, and its transcription exhibited a 4.7-fold increase under cholesterol induction. Furthermore, null mutation of kshA1 N led to the stable accumulation of androst-4-ene-3,17-dione (AD) and androst-1,4-diene-3,17-dione (ADD). We determined kshA2 N to be a redundant form of kshA1 N . Through a combined modification of kshA1 N , kshA2 N , and other key genes involved in the metabolism of sterols, we constructed a high-yield ADD-producing strain that could produce 9.36 g liter −1 ADD from the transformation of 20 g liter −1 phytosterols in 168 h. Moreover, we improved a previously established 9α-hydroxy-AD-producing strain via the overexpression of a mutant KshA1 N that had enhanced Ksh activity. Genetic engineering allowed the new strain to produce 11.7 g liter −1 9α-hydroxy-4-androstene-3,17-dione (9-OHAD) from the transformation of 20.0 g liter −1 phytosterol in 120 h. IMPORTANCE Steroidal drugs are widely used for anti-inflammation, anti-tumor action, endocrine regulation, and fertility management, among other uses. The two main starting materials for the industrial synthesis of steroid drugs are phytosterol and diosgenin. The phytosterol processing is carried out by microbial transformation, which is thought to be superior to the diosgenin processing by chemical conversions, given its simple and environmentally friendly process. However, diosgenin has long been used as the primary starting material instead of phytosterol. This is in response to challenges in developing efficient microbial strains for industrial phytosterol transformation, which stem from complex metabolic processes that feature many currently unclear details. In this study, we identified two oxygenase homologues of 3-ketosteroid-9α-hydroxylase, KshA1 N and KshA2 N , in M. neoaurum and demonstrated their crucial role in determining the yield and variety of products from phytosterol transformation. This work has practical value in developing industrial strains for phytosterol biotransformation.