Acetylcholinesterase is involved in the termination of impulse transmission by rapid hydrolysis of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine in numerous cholinergic pathways in the central and peripheral nervous systems. The enzyme inactivation, induced by various inhibitors, leads to acetylcholine accumulation, hyperstimulation of nicotinic and muscarinic receptors, and disrupted neurotransmission. Hence, acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, interacting with the enzyme as their primary target, are applied as relevant drugs and toxins. This review presents an overview of toxicology and pharmacology of reversible and irreversible acetylcholinesterase inactivating compounds. In the case of reversible inhibitors being commonly applied in neurodegenerative disorders treatment, special attention is paid to currently approved drugs (donepezil, rivastigmine and galantamine) in the pharmacotherapy of Alzheimer's disease, and toxic carbamates used as pesticides. Subsequently, mechanism of irreversible acetylcholinesterase inhibition induced by organophosphorus compounds (insecticides and nerve agents), and their specific and nonspecific toxic effects are described, as well as irreversible inhibitors having pharmacological implementation. In addition, the pharmacological treatment of intoxication caused by organophosphates is presented, with emphasis on oxime reactivators of the inhibited enzyme activity administering as causal drugs after the poisoning. Besides, organophosphorus and carbamate insecticides can be detoxified in mammals through enzymatic hydrolysis before they reach targets in the nervous system. Carboxylesterases most effectively decompose carbamates, whereas the most successful route of organophosphates detoxification is their degradation by corresponding phosphotriesterases.

Acetylcholinesterase Inhibitors: Pharmacology and Toxicology

Enzymes act as catalysts for the growth of metallic nanoparticles (NPs). The enzyme-mediated growth of metallic NPs provides a general means to follow biocatalyzed transformations, and to develop optical sensors for different substrates such as glucose, L-DOPA, alcohols, lactate or nerve gas analogs. Enzymes modified with Au NPs act as biocatalysts for the fabrication of metallic nanowires. The dip-pen nanolithography of NP-functionalized enzymes on Si surfaces yields biocatalytic templates that enable the orthogonal evolution of nanowires consisting of different metals.

Growing Metal Nanoparticles by Enzymes

The presence of spatial gradients in fundamental culture parameters, such as dissolved gases, pH, concentration of substrates, and shear rate, among others, is an important problem that frequently occurs in large-scale bioreactors. This problem is caused by a deficient mixing that results from limitations inherent to traditional scale-up methods and practical constraints during large-scale bioreactor design and operation. When cultured in a heterogeneous environment, cells are continuously exposed to fluctuating conditions as they travel through the various zones of a bioreactor. Such fluctuations can affect cell metabolism, yields, and quality of the products of interest. In this review, the theoretical analyses that predict the existence of environmental gradients in bioreactors and their experimental confirmation are reviewed. The origins of gradients in common culture parameters and their effects on various organisms of biotechnological importance are discussed. In particular, studies based on the scale-down methodology, a convenient tool for assessing the effect of environmental heterogene ities, are surveyed.

Living with heterogeneities in bioreactors: understanding the effects of environmental gradients on cells.

Twenty years research in cholinesterase biosensors: from basic research to practical applications.

Enzyme-based biosensing devices have been extensively developed over the last few decades, and have proven to be innovative techniques in the qualitative and quantitative analysis of a variety of target substrates over a wide range of applications. Distinct advantages that enzyme-based biosensors provide, such as high sensitivity and specificity, portability, cost-effectiveness, and the possibilities for miniaturization and point-of-care diagnostic testing make them more and more attractive for research focused on clinical analysis, food safety control, or disease monitoring purposes. Therefore, this review article investigates the operating principle of enzymatic biosensors utilizing electrochemical, optical, thermistor, and piezoelectric measurement techniques and their applications in the literature, as well as approaches in improving the use of enzymes for biosensors.

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Immobilized enzymes in biosensor applications

Engineering sensitive acetylcholinesterase for detection of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides.

To detect traces of insecticides in the environment using biosensors, we engineered Drosophila acetylcholinesterase (AChE) to increase its sensitivity and its rate of phosphorylation or carbamoylation by organophosphates or carbamates. The mutants made by site-directed mutagenesis were expressed in baculovirus. Different strategies were used to obtain these mutants: (i) substitution of amino acids at positions found mutated in AChE from insects resistant to insecticide, (ii) mutations of amino acids at positions suggested by 3-D structural analysis of the active site, (iii) Ala-scan analysis of amino acids lining the active site gorge, (iv) mutagenesis at positions detected as important for sensitivity in the Ala-scan analysis and (v) combination of mutations which independently enhance sensitivity. The results highlighted the difficulty of predicting the effect of mutations; this may be due to the structure of the site, a deep gorge with the active serine at the bottom and to allosteric effects between the top and the bottom of the gorge. Nevertheless, the use of these different strategies allowed us to obtain sensitive enzymes. The greatest improvement was for the sensitivity to dichlorvos for which a mutant was 300-fold more sensitive than the Drosophila wild-type enzyme and 288 000-fold more sensitive than the electric eel enzyme, the enzyme commonly used to detect organophosphate and carbamate.

Acetylcholinesterase engineering for detection of insecticide residues

SFM (serum-free medium) is preferred to media containing animal-derived components when culturing mammalian cells for the production of therapeutic recombinant proteins and mAbs (monoclonal antibodies). Nonetheless, eliminating animal-derived components from media can strongly modify culture performance and alter protein glycosylation. In the present study, mAb glycosylation profiles, extracellular exoglycosidase activities, hybridoma growth and mAb production in traditional medium containing 10% (v/v) FBS (fetal bovine serum) [DMEM (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium)/FBS] were compared with those obtained in either SFM or CDM (chemically defined medium). SFM and CDM supported higher cell and mAb concentrations than did DMEM/FBS; however, CE (capillary electrophoresis) analyses revealed important changes in mAb glycosylation patterns. Glycosylation patterns showed a broad microheterogeneity in all the media, ranging from complex to high-mannose and paucimannosidic glycans. mAb produced in DMEM/FBS presented 26 glycan structures, whereas a lower glycan microheterogeneity was found for cultures in CDM or SFM, which presented 24 and 22 structures respectively. In DMEM/FBS and CDM, complex glycans without terminal galactose (G0) represented 28 and 32% of the total glycans respectively and 42 and 46% corresponded to galactosylated structures (G1 plus G2) respectively. In contrast, G0 glycans in SFM accounted for 58%, whereas only 28% corresponded to G1 and G2 structures. Extracellular beta-galactosidase activity increased approx. 3-fold in SFM, which can explain the higher G0 content compared with cultures in the other two media. A desirable decrease in sialylated structures, but an undesirable increase in fucosylated forms, was observed in mAb produced in SFM and CDM media. Approxi. 80% of potential mAb glycosylation sites were occupied, regardless of the culture medium used.

Differences in the glycosylation profile of a monoclonal antibody produced by hybridomas cultured in serum-supplemented, serum-free or chemically defined media.

Sandino Estrada-Mondaca

Papers

Engineering sensitive acetylcholinesterase for detection of organophosphate and carbamate insecticides.

Acetylcholinesterase engineering for detection of insecticide residues

Differences in the glycosylation profile of a monoclonal antibody produced by hybridomas cultured in serum-supplemented, serum-free or chemically defined media.

Stabilization of Recombinant Drosophila Acetylcholinesterase

Stabilization of RecombinantDrosophilaAcetylcholinesterase