A Bi‐Enzymatic Cascade Pathway towards Optically Pure FAHFAs**

Abstract Recently discovered endogenous mammalian lipids, fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs), have been proved to have anti‐inflammatory and anti‐diabetic effects. Due to their extremely low abundancies in vivo , forging a feasible scenario for FAHFA synthesis is critical for their us...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:ChemBioChem
Main Authors: Zhang, Yan, Eser, Bekir Engin, Guo, Zheng
Other Authors: Novo Nordisk Fonden, Aarhus Universitets Forskningsfond
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021
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Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202100070
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1002/cbic.202100070
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full-xml/10.1002/cbic.202100070
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Summary:Abstract Recently discovered endogenous mammalian lipids, fatty acid esters of hydroxy fatty acids (FAHFAs), have been proved to have anti‐inflammatory and anti‐diabetic effects. Due to their extremely low abundancies in vivo , forging a feasible scenario for FAHFA synthesis is critical for their use in uncovering biological mechanisms or in clinical trials. Here, we showcase a fully enzymatic approach, a novel in vitro bi‐enzymatic cascade system, enabling an effective conversion of nature‐abundant fatty acids into FAHFAs. Two hydratases from Lactobacillus acidophilus were used for converting unsaturated fatty acids to various enantiomeric hydroxy fatty acids, followed by esterification with another fatty acid catalyzed by Candida antarctica lipase A (CALA). Various FAHFAs were synthesized in a semi‐preparative scale using this bi‐enzymatic approach in a one‐pot two‐step operation mode. In all, we demonstrate that the hydratase‐CALA system offers a promising route for the synthesis of optically pure structure‐diverse FAHFAs.