Recombinant alpha-galactosidases and alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidases of marine origin: feasibility study for application in synthesis Short term mobility: Trincone Antonio Vladivostok Ottobre 2013

Recombinant alpha-galactosidases and alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidases of marine origin: feasibility study for application in synthesis Enzymatic and chemical approaches for the preparation of various alpha-Gal oligosaccharides are of interest because this class of compounds are believed to act as xenoactive antigens that instigate the hyperacute rejection in xenotransplantation and for the fact that alpha-Gal linkage is present in many bioactive substances [Current Organic Chemistry, 2006, 10, 1163-1193]. The use of glycosyl hydrolases from marine environments dates back to the end of the 1960s and was mainly focused on the development of sensitive and reliable hydrolytic methods for the analysis of sugar chains. As a result not all the benefits of a particular enzymatic activity have been investigated, especially regarding the transglycosylation potential of these enzymes for the synthesis of glycosidic bonds. Objective of the present program is to define key experiments for the evaluation of recombinant alpha-galactosidases and alpha-N-acetylgalactosaminidases from marine bacteria Pseudoalteromonas sp. and Arenibacter latericius in the enzymatic synthesis of important biomolecules or in selective hydrolysis of compounds of interest in biomedicine. Usual methodologies present in organic chemistry laboratory and NMR equipment along with tandem MALDI-TOF MS and tandem ESIMS instruments are enabling technologies necessary to conduct short key experiments providing crude or purified biocatalysts.