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Publications - Cell and Metabolic Biology

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Publications

Frey, M.; Bathe, U.; Meink, L.; Balcke, G. U.; Schmidt, J.; Frolov, A.; Soboleva, A.; Hassanin, A.; Davari, M. D.; Frank, O.; Schlagbauer, V.; Dawid, C.; Tissier, A.; Combinatorial biosynthesis in yeast leads to over 200 diterpenoids Metab. Eng. 82, 193-200, (2024) DOI: 10.1016/j.ymben.2024.02.006

Diterpenoids form a diverse group of natural products, many of which are or could become pharmaceuticals or industrial chemicals. The modular character of diterpene biosynthesis and the promiscuity of the enzymes involved make combinatorial biosynthesis a promising approach to generate libraries of diverse diterpenoids. Here, we report on the combinatorial assembly in yeast of ten diterpene synthases producing (+)-copalyldiphosphate-derived backbones and four cytochrome P450 oxygenases (CYPs) in diverse combinations. This resulted in the production of over 200 diterpenoids. Based on literature and chemical database searches, 162 of these compounds can be considered new-to-Nature. The CYPs accepted most substrates they were given but remained regioselective with few exceptions. Our results provide the basis for the systematic exploration of the diterpenoid chemical space in yeast using sequence databases.
Publications

Soboleva, A.; Frolova, N.; Bureiko, K.; Shumilina, J.; Balcke, G. U.; Zhukov, V. A.; Tikhonovich, I. A.; Frolov, A.; Dynamics of Reactive Carbonyl Species in Pea Root Nodules in Response to Polyethylene Glycol (PEG)-Induced Osmotic Stress Int. J. Mol. Sci. 23, 2726, (2022) DOI: 10.3390/ijms23052726

Drought dramatically affects crop productivity worldwide. For legumes this effect is especially pronounced, as their symbiotic association with rhizobia is highly-sensitive to dehydration. This might be attributed to the oxidative stress, which ultimately accompanies plants’ response to water deficit. Indeed, enhanced formation of reactive oxygen species in root nodules might result in up-regulation of lipid peroxidation and overproduction of reactive carbonyl compounds (RCCs), which readily modify biomolecules and disrupt cell functions. Thus, the knowledge of the nodule carbonyl metabolome dynamics is critically important for understanding the drought-related losses of nitrogen fixation efficiency and plant productivity. Therefore, here we provide, to the best of our knowledge, for the first time a comprehensive overview of the pea root nodule carbonyl metabolome and address its alterations in response to polyethylene glycol-induced osmotic stress as the first step to examine the changes of RCC patterns in drought treated plants. RCCs were extracted from the nodules and derivatized with 7-(diethylamino)coumarin-3-carbohydrazide (CHH). The relative quantification of CHH-derivatives by liquid chromatography-high resolution mass spectrometry with a post-run correction for derivative stability revealed in total 194 features with intensities above 1 × 105 counts, 19 of which were down- and three were upregulated. The upregulation of glyceraldehyde could accompany non-enzymatic conversion of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate to methylglyoxal. The accumulation of 4,5-dioxovaleric acid could be the reason for down-regulation of porphyrin metabolism, suppression of leghemoglobin synthesis, inhibition of nitrogenase and degradation of legume-rhizobial symbiosis in response to polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced osmotic stress effect. This effect needs to be confirmed with soil-based drought models.
Publications

Leonova, T.; Popova, V.; Tsarev, A.; Henning, C.; Antonova, K.; Rogovskaya, N.; Vikhnina, M.; Baldensperger, T.; Soboleva, A.; Dinastia, E.; Dorn, M.; Shiroglasova, O.; Grishina, T.; Balcke, G. U.; Ihling, C.; Smolikova, G.; Medvedev, S.; Zhukov, V. A.; Babakov, V.; Tikhonovich, I. A.; Glomb, M. A.; Bilova, T.; Frolov, A.; Does Protein Glycation Impact on the Drought-Related Changes in Metabolism and Nutritional Properties of Mature Pea (Pisum sativum L.) Seeds? Int. J. Mol. Sci. 21, 567, (2020) DOI: 10.3390/ijms21020567

Protein glycation is usually referred to as an array of non-enzymatic post-translational modifications formed by reducing sugars and carbonyl products of their degradation. The resulting advanced glycation end products (AGEs) represent a heterogeneous group of covalent adducts, known for their pro-inflammatory effects in mammals, and impacting on pathogenesis of metabolic diseases and ageing. In plants, AGEs are the markers of tissue ageing and response to environmental stressors, the most prominent of which is drought. Although water deficit enhances protein glycation in leaves, its effect on seed glycation profiles is still unknown. Moreover, the effect of drought on biological activities of seed protein in mammalian systems is still unstudied with respect to glycation. Therefore, here we address the effects of a short-term drought on the patterns of seed protein-bound AGEs and accompanying alterations in pro-inflammatory properties of seed protein in the context of seed metabolome dynamics. A short-term drought, simulated as polyethylene glycol-induced osmotic stress and applied at the stage of seed filling, resulted in the dramatic suppression of primary seed metabolism, although the secondary metabolome was minimally affected. This was accompanied with significant suppression of NF-kB activation in human SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells after a treatment with protein hydrolyzates, isolated from the mature seeds of drought-treated plants. This effect could not be attributed to formation of known AGEs. Most likely, the prospective anti-inflammatory effect of short-term drought is related to antioxidant effect of unknown secondary metabolite protein adducts, or down-regulation of unknown plant-specific AGEs due to suppression of energy metabolism during seed filling.
Publications

Bathe, U.; Frolov, A.; Porzel, A.; Tissier, A.; CYP76 Oxidation Network of Abietane Diterpenes in Lamiaceae Reconstituted in Yeast J. Agr. Food Chem. 67, 13437-13450, (2019) DOI: 10.1021/acs.jafc.9b00714

Rosemary and sage species from Lamiaceae contain high amounts of structurally related but diverse abietane diterpenes. A number of substances from this compound family have potential pharmacological activities and are used in the food and cosmetic industry. This has raised interest in their biosynthesis. Investigations in Rosmarinus officinalis and some sage species have uncovered two main groups of cytochrome P450 oxygenases that are involved in the oxidation of the precursor abietatriene. CYP76AHs produce ferruginol and 11-hydroxyferruginol, while CYP76AKs catalyze oxidations at the C20 position. Using a modular Golden-Gate-compatible assembly system for yeast expression, these enzymes were systematically tested either alone or in combination. A total of 14 abietane diterpenes could be detected, 8 of which have not been reported thus far. We demonstrate here that yeast is a valid system for engineering and reconstituting the abietane diterpene network, allowing for the discovery of novel compounds with potential bioactivity.
Publications

Frolov, A.; Mamontova, T.; Ihling, C.; Lukasheva, E.; Bankin, M.; Chantseva, V.; Vikhnina, M.; Soboleva, A.; Shumilina, J.; Mavropolo-Stolyarenko, G.; Grishina, T.; Osmolovskaya, N.; Zhukov, V.; Hoehenwarter, W.; Sinz, A.; Tikhononovich, I.; Wessjohann, L.; Bilova, T.; Smolikova, G.; Medvedev, S.; Mining seed proteome: from protein dynamics to modification profiles Biol. Commun. 63, 43-58, (2018) DOI: 10.21638/spbu03.2018.106

In the modern world, crop plants represent a major source of daily consumed foods. Among them, cereals and legumes — i.e. the crops accumulating oils, carbohydrates and proteins in their seeds — dominate in European agriculture, tremendously impacting global protein consumption and biodiesel production. Therefore, the seeds of crop plants attract the special attention of biologists, biochemists, nutritional physiologists and food chemists. Seed development and germination, as well as age- and stress-related changes in their viability and nutritional properties, can be addressed by a variety of physiological and biochemical methods. In this context, the methods of functional genomics can be applied to address characteristic changes in seed metabolism, which can give access to stress-resistant genotypes. Among these methods, proteomics is one of the most effective tools, allowing mining metabolism changes on the protein level. Here we discuss the main methodological approaches of seed proteomics in the context of physiological changes related to environmental stress and ageing. We provide a comprehensive comparison of gel- and chromatographybased approaches with a special emphasis on advantages and disadvantages of both strategies in characterization of the seed proteome.
Publications

Frolov, A.; Bilova, T.; Paudel, G.; Berger, R.; Balcke, G. U.; Birkemeyer, C.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Early responses of mature Arabidopsis thaliana plants to reduced water potential in the agar-based polyethylene glycol infusion drought model J. Plant Physiol. 208, 70-83, (2017) DOI: 10.1016/j.jplph.2016.09.013

Drought is one of the most important environmental stressors resulting in increasing losses of crop plant productivity all over the world. Therefore, development of new approaches to increase the stress tolerance of crop plants is strongly desired. This requires precise and adequate modeling of drought stress. As this type of stress manifests itself as a steady decrease in the substrate water potential (ψw), agar plates infused with polyethylene glycol (PEG) are the perfect experimental tool: they are easy in preparation and provide a constantly reduced ψw, which is not possible in soil models. However, currently, this model is applicable only to seedlings and cannot be used for evaluation of stress responses in mature plants, which are obviously the most appropriate objects for drought tolerance research. To overcome this limitation, here we introduce a PEG-based agar infusion model suitable for 6–8-week-old A. thaliana plants, and characterize, to the best of our knowledge for the first time, the early drought stress responses of adult plants grown on PEG-infused agar. We describe essential alterations in the primary metabolome (sugars and related compounds, amino acids and polyamines) accompanied by qualitative and quantitative changes in protein patterns: up to 87 unique stress-related proteins were annotated under drought stress conditions, whereas further 84 proteins showed a change in abundance. The obtained proteome patterns differed slightly from those reported for seedlings and soil-based models.
Publications

Bilova, T.; Paudel, G.; Shilyaev, N.; Schmidt, R.; Brauch, D.; Tarakhovskaya, E.; Milrud, S.; Smolikova, G.; Tissier, A.; Vogt, T.; Sinz, A.; Brandt, W.; Birkemeyer, C.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Frolov, A.; Global proteomic analysis of advanced glycation end products in the Arabidopsis proteome provides evidence for age-related glycation hot spots J. Biol. Chem. 292, 15758-15776, (2017) DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M117.794537

Glycation is a post-translational modification resulting from the interaction of protein amino and guanidino groups with carbonyl compounds. Initially, amino groups react with reducing carbohydrates, yielding Amadori and Heyns compounds. Their further degradation results in formation of advanced glycation end products (AGEs), also originating from α-dicarbonyl products of monosaccharide autoxidation and primary metabolism. In mammals, AGEs are continuously formed during the life of the organism, accumulate in tissues, are well-known markers of aging, and impact age-related tissue stiffening and atherosclerotic changes. However, the role of AGEs in age-related molecular alterations in plants is still unknown. To fill this gap, we present here a comprehensive study of the age-related changes in the Arabidopsis thaliana glycated proteome, including the proteins affected and specific glycation sites therein. We also consider the qualitative and quantitative changes in glycation patterns in terms of the general metabolic background, pathways of AGE formation, and the status of plant anti-oxidative/anti-glycative defense. Although the patterns of glycated proteins were only minimally influenced by plant age, the abundance of 96 AGE sites in 71 proteins was significantly affected in an age-dependent manner and clearly indicated the existence of age-related glycation hot spots in the plant proteome. Homology modeling revealed glutamyl and aspartyl residues in close proximity (less than 5 Å) to these sites in three aging-specific and eight differentially glycated proteins, four of which were modified in catalytic domains. Thus, the sites of glycation hot spots might be defined by protein structure that indicates, at least partly, site-specific character of glycation.
Publications

Hettwer, K.; Böttcher, C.; Frolov, A.; Mittasch, J.; Albert, A.; von Roepenack-Lahaye, E.; Strack, D.; Milkowski, C.; Dynamic metabolic changes in seeds and seedlings of Brassica napus (oilseed rape) suppressing UGT84A9 reveal plasticity and molecular regulation of the phenylpropanoid pathway Phytochemistry 124, 46-57, (2016) DOI: 10.1016/j.phytochem.2016.01.014

In Brassica napus, suppression of the key biosynthetic enzyme UDP-glucose:sinapic acid glucosyltransferase (UGT84A9) inhibits the biosynthesis of sinapine (sinapoylcholine), the major phenolic component of seeds. Based on the accumulation kinetics of a total of 158 compounds (110 secondary and 48 primary metabolites), we investigated how suppression of the major sink pathway of sinapic acid impacts the metabolome of developing seeds and seedlings. In UGT84A9-suppressing (UGT84A9i) lines massive alterations became evident in late stages of seed development affecting the accumulation levels of 58 secondary and 7 primary metabolites. UGT84A9i seeds were characterized by decreased amounts of various hydroxycinnamic acid (HCA) esters, and increased formation of sinapic and syringic acid glycosides. This indicates glycosylation and β-oxidation as metabolic detoxification strategies to bypass intracellular accumulation of sinapic acid. In addition, a net loss of sinapic acid upon UGT84A9 suppression may point to a feedback regulation of HCA biosynthesis. Surprisingly, suppression of UGT84A9 under control of the seed-specific NAPINC promoter was maintained in cotyledons during the first two weeks of seedling development and associated with a reduced and delayed transformation of sinapine into sinapoylmalate. The lack of sinapoylmalate did not interfere with plant fitness under UV-B stress. Increased UV-B radiation triggered the accumulation of quercetin conjugates whereas the sinapoylmalate level was not affected.
Publications

Paudel, G.; Bilova, T.; Schmidt, R.; Greifenhagen, U.; Berger, R.; Tarakhovskaya, E.; Stöckhardt, S.; Balcke, G. U.; Humbeck, K.; Brandt, W.; Sinz, A.; Vogt, T.; Birkemeyer, C.; Wessjohann, L.; Frolov, A.; Osmotic stress is accompanied by protein glycation in Arabidopsis thaliana J. Exp. Bot. 67, 6283-6295, (2016) DOI: 10.1093/jxb/erw395

Among the environmental alterations accompanying oncoming climate changes, drought is the most important factor influencing crop plant productivity. In plants, water deficit ultimately results in the development of oxidative stress and accumulation of osmolytes (e.g. amino acids and carbohydrates) in all tissues. Up-regulation of sugar biosynthesis in parallel to the increasing overproduction of reactive oxygen species (ROS) might enhance protein glycation, i.e. interaction of carbonyl compounds, reducing sugars and α-dicarbonyls with lysyl and arginyl side-chains yielding early (Amadori and Heyns compounds) and advanced glycation end-products (AGEs). Although the constitutive plant protein glycation patterns were characterized recently, the effects of environmental stress on AGE formation are unknown so far. To fill this gap, we present here a comprehensive in-depth study of the changes in Arabidopsis thaliana advanced glycated proteome related to osmotic stress. A 3 d application of osmotic stress revealed 31 stress-specifically and 12 differentially AGE-modified proteins, representing altogether 56 advanced glycation sites. Based on proteomic and metabolomic results, in combination with biochemical, enzymatic and gene expression analysis, we propose monosaccharide autoxidation as the main stress-related glycation mechanism, and glyoxal as the major glycation agent in plants subjected to drought.
Publications

Bilova, T.; Lukasheva, E.; Brauch, D.; Greifenhagen, U.; Paudel, G.; Tarakhovskaya, E.; Frolova, N.; Mittasch, J.; Balcke, G. U.; Tissier, A.; Osmolovskaya, N.; Vogt, T.; Wessjohann, L. A.; Birkemeyer, C.; Milkowski, C.; Frolov, A.; A Snapshot of the Plant Glycated Proteome: STRUCTURAL, FUNCTIONAL, AND MECHANISTIC ASPECTS J. Biol. Chem. 291, 7621-7636, (2016) DOI: 10.1074/jbc.M115.678581

Glycation is the reaction of carbonyl compounds (reducing sugars and α-dicarbonyls) with amino acids, lipids, and proteins, yielding early and advanced glycation end products (AGEs). The AGEs can be formed via degradation of early glycation intermediates (glycoxidation) and by interaction with the products of monosaccharide autoxidation (autoxidative glycosylation). Although formation of these potentially deleterious compounds is well characterized in animal systems and thermally treated foods, only a little information about advanced glycation in plants is available. Thus, the knowledge of the plant AGE patterns and the underlying pathways of their formation are completely missing. To fill this gap, we describe the AGE-modified proteome of Brassica napus and characterize individual sites of advanced glycation by the methods of liquid chromatography-based bottom-up proteomics. The modification patterns were complex but reproducible: 789 AGE-modified peptides in 772 proteins were detected in two independent experiments. In contrast, only 168 polypeptides contained early glycated lysines, which did not resemble the sites of advanced glycation. Similar observations were made with Arabidopsis thaliana. The absence of the early glycated precursors of the AGE-modified protein residues indicated autoxidative glycosylation, but not glycoxidation, as the major pathway of AGE formation. To prove this assumption and to identify the potential modifying agents, we estimated the reactivity and glycative potential of plant-derived sugars using a model peptide approach and liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry-based techniques. Evaluation of these data sets together with the assessed tissue carbohydrate contents revealed dihydroxyacetone phosphate, glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate, ribulose, erythrose, and sucrose as potential precursors of plant AGEs.
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