Development of an efficient yeast platform for cannabigerolic acid biosynthesis.

Cannabinoids are important therapeutical molecules for human ailments, cancer treatment, and SARS-CoV-2. The central cannabinoid, cannabigerolic acid (CBGA), is generated from geranyl pyrophosphate and olivetolic acid by Cannabis sativa prenyltransferase (CsPT4). Despite efforts to engineer microorganisms such as Saccharomyces cerevisiae (S. cerevisiae) for CBGA production, their titers remain suboptimal because of the low conversion of hexanoate into olivetolic acid and the limited activity and stability of the CsPT4. To address the low hexanoate conversion, we eliminated hexanoate consumption by the beta-oxidation pathway and reduced its incorporation into fatty acids. To address CsPT4 limitations, we expanded the endoplasmic reticulum and fused an auxiliary protein to CsPT4. Consequently, the engineered S. cerevisiae chassis showed a marked improvement of 78.64-fold in CBGA production, reaching a titer of 510.32 ± 10.70 mg l-1 from glucose and hexanoate.

Correlations of serum cystatin C and glomerular filtration rate with vascular lesions and severity in acute coronary syndrome.

BACKGROUND: The aim of this study was to evaluate the predictive value of cystatin C (CysC) and estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) regarding vascular lesions and their severity in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS). METHODS: According to the results of coronary angiography, 195 ACS patients were divided into a single-vascular-lesion group (91 cases), a dual-vascular-lesion group (67 cases), and a multiple-vascular-lesion group (37 cases) to assess the severity of coronary artery disease according to Gensini scores and to analyze the correlations of CysC and eGFR level with vascular lesions and severity in ACS patients. RESULTS: Intergroup comparisons of univariate and multivariate regression analyses showed that CysC was positively correlated with vascular lesions (P < 0.05), but eGFR showed no correlation. Regarding the severity of vascular lesions, CysC was positively correlated with Gensini score (Pearson's correlation coefficient r = 0.1811, P < 0.05), but eGFR was not correlated (P > 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Serum CysC levels could reflect the severity of vascular lesions in ACS patients, and a high CysC level had predictive value regarding the severity of vascular lesions in ACS.