Luciferin Synthesis and Pesticide Detection by Luminescence Enzymatic Cascades.

D-Luciferin (D-LH2 ), a substrate of firefly luciferase (Fluc), is important for a wide range of bioluminescence applications. This work reports a new and green method using enzymatic reactions (HELP, HadA Enzyme for Luciferin Preparation) to convert 19 phenolic derivatives to 8 D-LH2 analogues with ≈51 % yield. The method can synthesize the novel 5'-methyl-D-LH2 and 4',5'-dimethyl-D-LH2 , which have never been synthesized or found in nature. 5'-Methyl-D-LH2 emits brighter and longer wavelength light than the D-LH2 . Using HELP, we further developed LUMOS (Luminescence Measurement of Organophosphate and Derivatives) technology for in situ detection of organophosphate pesticides (OPs) including parathion, methyl parathion, EPN, profenofos, and fenitrothion by coupling the reactions of OPs hydrolase and Fluc. The LUMOS technology can detect these OPs at parts per trillion (ppt) levels. The method can directly detect OPs in food and biological samples without requiring sample pretreatment.

Clinical validation of a Cas13-based assay for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 RNA.

Nucleic acid detection by isothermal amplification and the collateral cleavage of reporter molecules by CRISPR-associated enzymes is a promising alternative to quantitative PCR. Here, we report the clinical validation of the specific high-sensitivity enzymatic reporter unlocking (SHERLOCK) assay using the enzyme Cas13a from Leptotrichia wadei for the detection of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-the virus that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)-in 154 nasopharyngeal and throat swab samples collected at Siriraj Hospital, Thailand. Within a detection limit of 42 RNA copies per reaction, SHERLOCK was 100% specific and 100% sensitive with a fluorescence readout, and 100% specific and 97% sensitive with a lateral-flow readout. For the full range of viral load in the clinical samples, the fluorescence readout was 100% specific and 96% sensitive. For 380 SARS-CoV-2-negative pre-operative samples from patients undergoing surgery, SHERLOCK was in 100% agreement with quantitative PCR with reverse transcription. The assay, which we show is amenable to multiplexed detection in a single lateral-flow strip incorporating an internal control for ribonuclease contamination, should facilitate SARS-CoV-2 detection in settings with limited resources.

3,4-Dihydroxyphenylacetate 2,3-dioxygenase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa: An Fe(II)-containing enzyme with fast turnover.

3,4-dihydroxyphenylacetate (DHPA) dioxygenase (DHPAO) from Pseudomonas aeruginosa (PaDHPAO) was overexpressed in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity. As the enzyme lost activity over time, a protocol to reactivate and conserve PaDHPAO activity has been developed. Addition of Fe(II), DTT and ascorbic acid or ROS scavenging enzymes (catalase or superoxide dismutase) was required to preserve enzyme stability. Metal content and activity analyses indicated that PaDHPAO uses Fe(II) as a metal cofactor. NMR analysis of the reaction product indicated that PaDHPAO catalyzes the 2,3-extradiol ring-cleavage of DHPA to form 5-carboxymethyl-2-hydroxymuconate semialdehyde (CHMS) which has a molar absorptivity of 32.23 mM-1cm-1 at 380 nm and pH 7.5. Steady-state kinetics under air-saturated conditions at 25°C and pH 7.5 showed a Km for DHPA of 58 ± 8 µM and a kcat of 64 s-1, indicating that the turnover of PaDHPAO is relatively fast compared to other DHPAOs. The pH-rate profile of the PaDHPAO reaction shows a bell-shaped plot that exhibits a maximum activity at pH 7.5 with two pKa values of 6.5 ± 0.1 and 8.9 ± 0.1. Study of the effect of temperature on PaDHPAO activity indicated that the enzyme activity increases as temperature increases up to 55°C. The Arrhenius plot of ln(k'cat) versus the reciprocal of the absolute temperature shows two correlations with a transition temperature at 35°C. Two activation energy values (Ea) above and below the transition temperature were calculated as 42 and 14 kJ/mol, respectively. The data imply that the rate determining steps of the PaDHPAO reaction at temperatures above and below 35°C may be different. Sequence similarity network analysis indicated that PaDHPAO belongs to the enzyme clusters that are largely unexplored. As PaDHPAO has a high turnover number compared to most of the enzymes previously reported, understanding its biochemical and biophysical properties should be useful for future applications in biotechnology.