Catalytic mechanism and endo-to-exo selectivity reversion of an octalin-forming natural Diels-Alderase.

We have previously reported the identification of CghA, a proposed Diels-Alderase responsible for the formation of the bicyclic octalin core of the fungal secondary metabolite Sch210972. Here we show the crystal structure of the CghA-product complex at a resolution of 2.0 Å. Our result provides the second structural determination of eukaryotic Diels-Alderases and adds yet another fold to the family of proteins reported to catalyse [4 + 2] cycloaddition reactions. Site-directed mutagenesis-coupled kinetic characterization and computational analyses allowed us to identify key catalytic residues and propose a possible catalytic mechanism. Most interestingly, we were able to rationally engineer CghA such that the mutant was able to catalyse preferentially the formation of the energetically disfavoured exo adduct. This work expands our knowledge and understanding of the emerging and potentially widespread class of natural enzymes capable of catalysing stereoselective Diels-Alder reactions and paves the way towards developing enzymes potentially useful in various bio/synthetic applications.

Improvement of human cell line activation test (h-CLAT) using short-time exposure methods for prevention of false-negative results.

Recently, animal testing has been affected by increasing ethical, social, and political concerns regarding animal welfare. Several in vitro safety tests for evaluating skin sensitization, such as the human cell line activation test (h-CLAT), have been proposed. However, similar to other tests, the h-CLAT has produced false-negative results, including in tests for acid anhydride and water-insoluble chemicals. In a previous study, we demonstrated that the cause of false-negative results from phthalic anhydride was hydrolysis by an aqueous vehicle, with IL-8 release from THP-1 cells, and that short-time exposure to liquid paraffin (LP) dispersion medium could reduce false-negative results from acid anhydrides. In the present study, we modified the h-CLAT by applying this exposure method. We found that the modified h-CLAT is a promising method for reducing false-negative results obtained from acid anhydrides and chemicals with octanol-water partition coefficients (LogKow) greater than 3.5. Based on the outcomes from the present study, a combination of the original and the modified h-CLAT is suggested for reducing false-negative results. Notably, the combination method provided a sensitivity of 95% (overall chemicals) or 93% (chemicals with LogKow > 2.0), and an accuracy of 88% (overall chemicals) or 81% (chemicals with LogKow > 2.0). We found that the combined method is a promising evaluation scheme for reducing false-negative results seen in existing in vitro skin-sensitization tests. In the future, we expect a combination of original and modified h-CLAT to be applied in a newly developed in vitro test for evaluating skin sensitization.

Preventing false-negatives in the in vitro skin sensitization testing of acid anhydrides using interleukin-8 release assays.

In vitro safety tests may be used as replacements for animal tests owing to their accuracy and high-throughput performance. However, several in vitro skin sensitization tests produce false-negative results such as acid anhydride. Here, we investigated the relationship between false-negative results of acid anhydride and its hydrolysis by aqueous vehicle. Differences in the pattern of hydrolysis for phthalic anhydride (PAH) due to addition of 1 drop of stock solution of PAH in liquid paraffin (LP) dispersion medium and PAH in DMSO were analyzed in a cell-free system. The results showed that use of LP dispersion medium stabilized the concentration of PAH in water over 5min by sustained-release, although almost all PAH converted to phthalic acid in water within 5min using DMSO. Additionally, treatment of THP-1 cells with PAH and phthalic acid using LP dispersion medium for 5min resulted in a 32-fold increase in IL-8 release for PAH as compared with that in the vehicle control. In contrast, for PAH using aqueous vehicle and phthalic acid using LP dispersion medium, there were no significant increases in IL-8 release. Similarly, using LP dispersion medium, trimellitic anhydride significantly increased IL-8 release was observed.