Total biosynthesis of the cyclic AMP booster forskolin from Coleus forskohlii
Abstract
Forskolin is a unique structurally complex labdane type diterpenoid used in the treatment of glaucoma and heart failure based on its activity as a cyclic AMP booster. Commercial production of forskolin relies exclusively on extraction from its only known natural source, the plant Coleus forskohlii, in which forskolin accumulates in the root cork. Here we report the discovery of five cytochrome P450s and two acetyltransferases which catalyze a cascade of reactions converting the forskolin precursor 13R-manoyl oxide into forskolin and a diverse array of additional labdane-type diterpenoids. A minimal set of three P450s in combination with a single acetyl transferase was identified that catalyzes the conversion of 13R-manoyl oxide into forskolin as demonstrated by transient expression in Nicotiana benthamiana. The entire pathway for forskolin production from glucose encompassing expression of nine genes was stably integrated into Saccharomyces cerevisiae and afforded forskolin titers of 40 mg/L.
Article and author information
Author details
Funding
Villum Fonden
- Birger Lindberg Møller
Novo Nordisk
- Birger Lindberg Møller
European Commission
- Irini Pateraki
DOE Office of Science (BER DE-FC02-07ER64494)
- Bjoern Hamberger
Strategic Partnership Grant (15-SPG-Full-3101)
- Bjoern Hamberger
MSU Foundation
- Bjoern Hamberger
Michigan State University (startup funding from the Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry)
- Bjoern Hamberger
Michigan State University (AgBioResearch - MICL02454)
- Bjoern Hamberger
The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
Copyright
© 2017, Pateraki et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
Metrics
-
- 5,070
- views
-
- 805
- downloads
-
- 96
- citations
Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.
Download links
Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)
Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)
Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)
Further reading
-
- Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Glycans play an important role in modulating the interactions between natural killer cells and antibodies to fight pathogens and harmful cells.
-
- Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
- Cell Biology
The Sonic hedgehog (Shh) signaling pathway controls embryonic development and tissue homeostasis after birth. This requires regulated solubilization of dual-lipidated, firmly plasma membrane-associated Shh precursors from producing cells. Although it is firmly established that the resistance-nodulation-division transporter Dispatched (Disp) drives this process, it is less clear how lipidated Shh solubilization from the plasma membrane is achieved. We have previously shown that Disp promotes proteolytic solubilization of Shh from its lipidated terminal peptide anchors. This process, termed shedding, converts tightly membrane-associated hydrophobic Shh precursors into delipidated soluble proteins. We show here that Disp-mediated Shh shedding is modulated by a serum factor that we identify as high-density lipoprotein (HDL). In addition to serving as a soluble sink for free membrane cholesterol, HDLs also accept the cholesterol-modified Shh peptide from Disp. The cholesteroylated Shh peptide is necessary and sufficient for Disp-mediated transfer because artificially cholesteroylated mCherry associates with HDL in a Disp-dependent manner, whereas an N-palmitoylated Shh variant lacking C-cholesterol does not. Disp-mediated Shh transfer to HDL is completed by proteolytic processing of the palmitoylated N-terminal membrane anchor. In contrast to dual-processed soluble Shh with moderate bioactivity, HDL-associated N-processed Shh is highly bioactive. We propose that the purpose of generating different soluble forms of Shh from the dual-lipidated precursor is to tune cellular responses in a tissue-type and time-specific manner.