Improved synthesis of 2'-deoxyadenosine and 5-methyluridine by Escherichia coli using an auto-induction system

Nucleoside analogues are used widely for the treatment of viral diseases and cancer, however the preparation of some important intermediates of these nucleoside analogues, including 2'-deoxyadenosine (dAR) and 5-methyluridine (5-MU), remains inconvenient. To optimize the synthesis of dAR and 5-MU, recombinant strains and auto-induction medium were employed in this study. E. coli BL21(DE3) strains overexpressing purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP), uridine phosphorylase (UP) and thymidine phosphorylase (TP) were constructed and cultured in auto-induction ZYM-Fe-5052 medium for 8 h. The cultures of these strains were then used directly to synthesize dAR and 5-MU. Under optimized conditions, 30 mM adenine was converted to 29 mM dAR in 1 h, and 32 mM 5-MU was obtained from 60 mM thymine, using 6% (v/v) cell solutions as biocatalysts. These results indicate that our convenient and efficient method is ideal for the preparation of dAR and 5-MU, and has potential for the preparation of other nucleoside analogue intermediates.