N-succinylamino acid racemases: Enzymatic properties and biotechnological applications

Publication date: Available online 23 January 2020Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) - Proteins and ProteomicsAuthor(s): Sergio Martínez-Rodríguez, Pablo Soriano-Maldonado, Jose Antonio GaviraAbstractThe N-succinylamino acid racemase/o-succinylbenzoate synthase (NSAR/OSBS) subfamily from the enolase superfamily contains different enzymes showing promiscuous N-substituted-amino acid racemase (NxAR) activity. These enzymes were originally named as N-acylamino acid racemases because of their industrial application. Nonetheless, they are pivotal in several enzymatic cascades due to their versatility to catalyze a wide substrate spectrum, allowing the production of optically pure d- or l-amino acids from cheap precursors. These compounds are of paramount economic interest, since they are used as food additives, in the pharmaceutical and cosmetics industries and/or as chiral synthons in organic synthesis. Despite its economic importance, the discovery of new N-succinylamino acid racemases has become elusive, since classical sequence-based annotation methods proved ineffective in their identification, due to a high sequence similarity among the members of the enolase superfamily. During the last decade, deeper investigations into different members of the NSAR/OSBS subfamily have shed light on the classification and identification of NSAR enzymes with NxAR activity of biotechnological potential. This review aims to gather the dispersed information on NSAR/OSBS members show...
Source: Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA) Proteins and Proteomics - Category: Biochemistry Source Type: research