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A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
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Heterologous expression and metabolic engineering tools for improving terpenoids production
Chuanteng Ma1, Kaijin Zhang1, Xianyan Zhang1
1Key Laboratory of Marine Drugs, Chinese Ministry of Education, School of Medicine and Pharmacy, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, People's Republic of China.
Current Opinion in Biotechnology
|March 26, 2021
Summary
Producing complex terpenoids for pharmaceuticals is challenging. This review highlights advances in using synthetic biology and metabolic engineering in heterologous hosts for large-scale, diverse terpenoid production.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Synthetic Biology
- Metabolic Engineering
Background:
- Terpenoids (isoprenoids) are a vast class of natural products vital to the pharmaceutical industry.
- Traditional methods for obtaining bioactive terpenoids face challenges in yield and scalability.
- Heterologous production offers a promising alternative for accessing diverse terpenoid structures.
Purpose of the Study:
- To review progress in producing terpenoid skeletons via heterologous expression.
- To showcase the application of metabolic engineering in enhancing terpenoid biosynthesis.
- To guide future development of cell factories for pharmaceutical terpenoids.
Main Methods:
- Heterologous expression of terpenoid biosynthesis pathways.
- Metabolic engineering strategies for pathway optimization.
- Utilizing synthetic biology tools for strain development.
Main Results:
- Demonstrated large-scale production of various pharmaceutical terpenoids.
- Achieved diversification of terpenoid structures through engineered pathways.
- Established efficient cell factories for terpenoid compound generation.
Conclusions:
- Heterologous production is a powerful approach for pharmaceutical terpenoids.
- Metabolic engineering and synthetic biology are key enablers for advanced cell factories.
- Further development holds potential for novel terpenoid-based drug discovery.
