Continuous‐Flow Biocatalysis of UDP‐Glucuronic Acid: Engineering the Rate‐Limiting Enzyme and Optimizing Multienzyme Immobilization

View at publisher
Authors: Shuang Zheng, Jin‐Qi Yu, Xiao‐Rui Zhang, Deqing Wang, Jian-Qun Deng, Li‐Li Sheng, Juan Liu, Jin Hou, Ju‐Zheng Sheng
Cited by: 1
References: 28

Abstract

UDP‐GlcA, the activated form of glucuronic acid, is essential for glycosylation and polysaccharide biosynthesis. Despite advances in UDP‐GlcA synthesis, economical and scalable production methods remain limited. Here, we developed a multienzyme immobilization system for the continuous‐flow synthesis of UDP‐GlcA. We first constructed a UDP‐glucose synthesis module that maintained stable operation for over 200 h with a space‐time yield of 3.9 g·L −1 ·h −1 . To address the bottleneck of the rate‐limiting enzyme UDP‐glucose dehydrogenase (TuaD), we obtained the mutant TuaD M8, using a combined strategy of protein repair one‐stop shop engineering and rational reversion of synergistic deleterious mutations, achieving significantly enhanced activity and stability. Integration of both modules yielded a UDP‐GlcA flow synthesis system with a space‐time yield of 1.3 g·L −1 ·h −1 and 220 h continuous operation, demonstrating strong industrial potential. This strategy provides an efficient, sustainable, and cost‐effective approach for large‐scale UDP‐GlcA production and establishes a framework for biosynthesizing other high‐value nucleotide sugars via immobilized enzyme systems.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Enzyme Catalysis and Immobilization Carbohydrate Chemistry and Synthesis Microbial Metabolic Engineering and Bioproduction

Publication details

Journal / source
Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis
Publisher
Wiley
Volume
368
Issue
9
Publication date
26 April 2026
Language
EN