• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.25 no.10
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• pp.1634-1639
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• 2015

Cytochrome P450 hydroxylase (CYP) in actinomycetes plays an important role in the biosynthesis and bioconversion of various secondary metabolites. Two unique CYPs named CYP-sb21 and CYP-pa1, which were identified from Sebekia benihana and Pseudonocardia autotrophica, respectively, were proven to transfer a hydroxyl group at the 4^th or 9^th N-methyl leucine position of immunosuppressive agent cyclosporin A (CsA). Interestingly, these two homologous CYPs showed different CsA regio-selectivities. CYP-sb21 exhibited preferential hydroxylation activity at the 4^th position over the 9^th position, whereas CYP-pa1 showed the opposite preference. To narrow down the CYP domain critical for CsA regio-selectivity, each CYP was divided into four domains, and each domain was swapped with its counterpart from the other CYP. A total of 18 hybrid CYPs were then individually tested for CsA regio-selectivity. Although most of the hybrid CYPs failed to exhibit a significant change in regio-selectivity in the context of CsA hydroxylation, hybrid CYP-pa1 swapped with the second domain of CYP-sb21 showed a higher preference for the 9^th position. Moreover, hybrid CYPsb21 containing seven amino acids from the 2nd domain of CYP-pa1 showed higher preference for the 4^th position. These results imply that the 2nd domain of CsA-specific CYP plays a critical role in CsA regio-selectivity, thereby setting the stage for biotechnological application of CsA regio-selective hydroxylation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.4
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• pp.475-480
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• 2010

Actinomycetes are Gram-positive soil bacteria and one of the most important industrial microorganisms due to superior biosynthetic capabilities of many valuable secondary metabolites as well as production of various valuable bioconversion enzymes. Among them are cytochrome P450 hydroxylase (CYP), which are hemoproteins encoded by a super family of genes, are universally distributed in most of the organisms from all biological kingdoms. Actinomycetes are a rich source of soluble CYP enzymes, which play critical roles in the bioactivation and detoxification of a wide variety of metabolite biosynthesis and xenobiotic transformation. Cyclosporin A (CyA), one of the most commonly-prescribed immunosuppressive drugs, was previously reported to be hydroxylated at the position of 4th N-methyl leucine by a rare actinomycetes called Sebekia benihana, leading to display different biological activity spectrum such as loss of immunosuppressive activities yet retaining hair growth-stimulating side effect. In order to improve this regio-selective CyA hydroxylation in S. benihana, previously-identified several secondary metabolite up-regulatory genes from Streptomyces coelicolor and S. avermitilis were heterologously overexpressed in S. benihana using an $ermE^*$ promoter-containing Streptomyces integrative expression vector. Among tested, SCO4967 encoding a conserved hypothetical protein significantly stimulated region-specific CyA hydroxylation in S. benihana, implying that some common regulatory systems functioning in both biosynthesis and bioconversion of secondary metabolite might be present in different actinomycetes species.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.11
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• pp.1750-1759
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• 2020

The characterization of cytochrome P450 CYP125A13 from Streptomyces peucetius was conducted using cholesterol as the sole substrate. The in vitro enzymatic assay utilizing putidaredoxin and putidaredoxin reductase from Pseudomonas putida revealed that CYP125A13 bound cholesterol and hydroxylated it. The calculated K_D value, catalytic conversion rates, and Km value were 56.92 ± 11.28 μM, 1.95 nmol min^-1 nmol^-1, and 11.3 ± 2.8 μM, respectively. Gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis showed that carbon 27 of the cholesterol side-chain was hydroxylated, characterizing CYP125A13 as steroid C27-hydroxylase. The homology modeling and docking results also revealed the binding of cholesterol to the active site, facilitated by the hydrophobic amino acids and position of the C27-methyl group near heme. This orientation was favorable for the hydroxylation of the C27-methyl group, supporting the in vitro analysis. This was the first reported case of the hydroxylation of cholesterol at the C-27 position by Streptomyces P450. This study also established the catalytic function of CYP125A13 and provides a solid basis for further studies related to the catabolic potential of Streptomyces species.