AsianScientist (Sep. 12, 2018) – Researchers at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) in South Korea have found a way to produce free heme using engineered Escherichia coli strains. They reported their method in Nature Cataysis.
Heme is an essential molecule in the blood of many animals. It also plays an important role in the electron transport chains of organisms that respire using oxygen. Given its widespread application as an iron-supplying agent in the healthcare and dietary supplement industries, heme is now in high demand, and there is a need to produce it more efficiently.
Earlier methods for producing heme have relied on engineered E. coli. However, because the heme was produced inside the bacteria, an additional step was required to extract the accumulated heme. The secretion of heme in the form of peptides or proteins also requires an extraction step to isolate the free heme from the secreted products.
To improve the efficiency of heme production, the KAIST team sought to produce extracellular free heme by enhancing its biosynthesis in E. coli. They overexpressed the metabolic genes involved in heme biosynthesis and export, while at the same time reducing the levels of expression of enzymes that degraded heme in the E. coli. The resulting engineered strain secreted a significant amount of heme into the extracellular space.
The researchers believe that their strategy will expedite the production of free heme to serve as a bioavailable iron-supplying agent and an important prosthetic group of multiple hemoproteins for medical uses.
The article can be found at: Zhao et al. (2018) Metabolic Engineering of Escherichia coli for Secretory Production of Free Haem.
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Source: Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; Photo: Shutterstock.
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