BoostLab1-8: BioProNUK - biocatalytic production technology for nucleotide sugar valorization of renewable raw materials

 

Project duration

June 1, 2022 to May 31, 2025

Project partners

RWTH Aachen, ABBt (Chair of Biotechnology)

TU Hamburg, ITB (Institute of Technical Biocatalysis)

RWTH Aachen, BioTECmat (Laboratory for Biomaterials)

Project description

The project objective of BioProNuk is to develop reactors for enzyme cascades as a synthesis platform for the production of nucleotide sugars on a multi-gram to multi-100g scale from renewable raw materials. The nucleotide sugars UDP-GalNAc, UDP-GlcNAc, UDP-GlcA, UDP-Gal, GDP Fuc, NDP-Glc, N = U, C, dT, A, are in focus.

The targeted enzyme cascades are based on simple sugars from material streams of renewable resources, sucrose and polyphosphate. The enzyme cascades for nucleotide sugars have already been established by the partner Lehr- und Forschungsgebiet Biomaterialien at the RWTH Aachen University. By a repeated batch process, up to 14 nucleotide sugars can already be produced on a gram scale. However, this process does not yet have the technical maturity and economic viability for industrial synthesis and is also very labor intensive.

To jump to the next economic production level, this project focuses on 1. regeneration of the expensive cofactors, 2. improvement of the cascade enzymes by directed evolution, and 3. development of an enzyme reactor.

Open positions

Currently none