Penicillin amidase

About: Penicillin amidase is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 576 publications have been published within this topic receiving 15563 citations. The topic is also known as: penicillin amidohydrolase & ampicillin acylase.

N-(4′-Hydroxyphenylacetyl)palytoxin: A Palytoxin Prodrug That Can Be Activated by a Monoclonal Antibody-Penicillin G Amidase Conjugate

Abstract: Palytoxin (PTX), one of the most toxic nonprotein molecules known, is cytotoxic at picomolar concentrations against a wide variety of cell types. In contrast to most cytotoxins, PTX exerts its activity extracellularly. A method for targeting PTX to tumor cells is described in which a monoclonal antibody-enzyme conjugate activates a PTX prodrug at surfaces of tumor cells. The prodrug, N-(4'-hydroxyphenylacetyl)palytoxin (NHPAP), was prepared by reacting PTX with an active ester of 4-hydroxyphenylacetic acid. NHPAP was 1000 times less toxic than PTX to a panel of carcinoma and lymphoma cell lines. The cytotoxic activity of the combination of penicillin G amidase from Escherichia coli with NHPAP was equal to PTX. Two cell lines that were multidrug resistant showed no enhanced resistance to NHPAP +/- penicillin G amidase. Immunologically specific activation of NHPAP took place when H2981 cells (L6 antigen positive) were treated with the monoclonal antibody conjugate L6-penicillin G amidase followed by NHPAP. This system is distinguished from other prodrug activation schemes, since the released drug exerts its activity extracellularly, has high potency, and may be able to overcome the multidrug resistant phenotype.

Conjugation of penicillin acylase with the reactive copolymer of N-isopropylacrylamide: a step toward a thermosensitive industrial biocatalyst.

Abstract: Conjugation of penicillin acylase (PA) to poly-N-isopropylacrylamide (polyNIPAM) was studied as a way to prepare a thermosensitive biocatalyst for industrial applications to antibiotic synthesis. Condensation of PA with the copolymer of NIPAM containing active ester groups resulted in higher coupling yields of the enzyme (37%) compared to its chemical modification and copolymerization with the monomer (9% coupling yield) at the same NIPAM:enzyme weight ratio of ca. 35. A 10-fold increase of the enzyme loading on the copolymer resulted in 24% coupling yield and increased by 4-fold the specific PA activity of the conjugate. Two molecular forms of the conjugate were found by gel filtration on Sepharose CL 4B: the lower molecular weight fraction of ca. 106 and, presumably, cross-linked protein-polymer aggregates of MW > 107. Michaelis constant for 5-nitro-3-phenylacetamidobenzoic acid hydrolysis by the PA conjugate (20 M) was found to be slightly higher than that of the free enzyme (12 M), and evaluation of Vmax testifies to the high catalytic efficiency of the conjugated enzyme. PolyNIPAM-cross-linked PA retained its capacity to synthesize cephalexin from D-phenylglycin amide and 7-aminodeacetoxycephalosporanic acid. The synthesis-hydrolysis ratios of free and polyNIPAM-cross-linked enzyme in cephalexin synthesis were 7.46 and 7.49, respectively. Thus, diffusional limitation, which is a problem in the industrial production of -lactam antibiotics, can be successfully eliminated by cross-linking penicillin acylase to a smart polymer (i.e., polyNIPAM). (Less)