CYP116B5-SOX: An artificial peroxygenase for drug metabolites production and bioremediation

CYP116B5 is a class VII P450 in which the heme domain is linked to a FMN and 2Fe2S-binding reductase. Our laboratory has proved that the CYP116B5 heme domain (CYP116B5-hd) is capable of catalyzing the oxidation of substrates using H₂O₂. Recently, the Molecular Lego approach was applied to join the heme domain of CYP116B5 to sarcosine oxidase (SOX), which provides H₂O₂ in-situ by the sarcosine oxidation. In this work, the chimeric self-sufficient fusion enzyme CYP116B5-SOX was heterologously expressed, purified, and characterized for its functionality by absorbance and fluorescence spectroscopy. Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) experiments revealed a T_M of 48.4 ± 0.04 and 58.3 ± 0.02°C and a enthalpy value of 175,500 ± 1850 and 120,500 ± 1350 cal mol^-1 for the CYP116B5 and SOX domains respectively. The fusion enzyme showed an outstanding chemical stability in presence of up to 200 mM sarcosine or 5 mM H₂O₂ (4.4 ± 0.8 and 11.0 ± 2.6% heme leakage respectively). Thanks to the in-situ H₂O₂ generation, an improved k_cat/K_M for the p-nitrophenol conversion was observed (k_cat of 20.1 ± 0.6 min^-1 and K_M of 0.23 ± 0.03 mM), corresponding to 4 times the k_cat/K_M of the CYP116B5-hd. The aim of this work is the development of an engineered biocatalyst to be exploited in bioremediation. In order to tackle this challenge, an E. coli strain expressing CYP116B5-SOX was employed to exploit this biocatalyst for the oxidation of the wastewater contaminating-drug tamoxifen. Data show a 12-fold increase in tamoxifen N-oxide production-herein detected for the first time as CYP116B5 metabolite-compared to the direct H₂O₂ supply, equal to the 25% of the total drug conversion.