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Selective Microbial Conversion of DHEA into 7α-OH-DHEA
Vyacheslav V Kollerov1, Andrei A Shutov1, Marina V Donova1
1Federal Research Center "Pushchino Center for Biological Research of the Russian Academy of Sciences", G.K. Skryabin Institute of Biochemistry and Physiology of Microorganisms, Russian Academy of Sciences, Pushchino, Russia.
Abstract:
7α-Hydroxy dehydroepiandrosterone (7α-OH-prasterone, 7α-OH-DHEA) is a key steroid intermediate in the synthesis of valuable pharmaceuticals widely used in the treatment of autoimmune illness, rheumatoid arthritis, colitis, and other severe diseases. The steroid can be produced using a filamentous fungus, which is capable of regio- and stereospecific hydroxylation of the steroid 3β-alcohol (DHEA) in the allylic position C7. Here, we describe a method for highly selective microbial production of 7α-OH-DHEA from DHEA using the zygomycete Backusella lamprospora VKM F-944. The method ensures high yield of 7α-OH-DHEA (up to 89%, mol/mol) even at high concentration of the substrate DHEA (15 g/L).
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