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

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.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis
Published
2026-04-26
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adsc.70469
Primary Topic
Enzyme Catalysis and Immobilization
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

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

Jian-Qun Deng, Juan Liu, Deqing Wang, Li‐Li Sheng et al.
Advanced Synthesis & Catalysis
Enzyme Catalysis and Immobilization
article

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

Jian-Qun Deng, Juan Liu, Deqing Wang, Li‐Li Sheng, Shuang Zheng, Jin Hou, Ju‐Zheng Sheng, Jin‐Qi Yu, Xiao‐Rui Zhang
article en

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.

Advanced Synthesis & CatalysisVol. 368(9)
Shandong University of Traditional Chinese Medicine (CN), Shandong University (CN), State Key Laboratory of Microbial Technology
National Natural Science Foundation of China, China Postdoctoral Science Foundation, National Key Research and Development Program of China
Industry, innovation and infrastructure
Openalex Percentile: Top 7%
Enzyme Catalysis and Immobilization
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