The Basic Research for the Production of New Triterpene Skeletons by Extensive Use of the Technique of Molecular Biology

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Cyclization of oxidosqualene into tetra- and pentacyclic carbon skeleton of sterols and triterpenes, catalyzed by oxidosqualene cyclases (OSCs), is one of the most complex and fascinating reactions found in nature. OSCs generate multiple stereogenic centers in a single reaction, and are responsible for the diverse triterpene skeletons. In order to investigate the origin of structural diversity of triterpene skeletons, cDNA cloning of OSCs and analysis of their product specificity were carried out. From triterpene producing plants, over twenty-five OSC clones were obtained, and their enzyme function established by expression in yeast. They included cycloartenol, cucurbitadienol, lupeol, β-amyrin, isomultiflorenol and mixed amyrin synthases. Studies of chimeric proteins between β-amyrin synthase and lupeol synthase, and mutant proeins constructed by site directed mutagenesis identified the amino acid residues responsible for their product specificity. Trp259 of β-amyrin synthase (PNY) was identified to be the critical residue controlling β-amyrin formation. In further mutation studies, PNYY261H mutant produced dammara-18,21-dien-3β-o1 (as a 3:5 mixture of E/Z isomer at Δ^<18>) together with minor amount of dammara-18(28),21-dien-3β-o1. These triterpenes have not been reported from nature, and therefore, could be categorized as "unnatural" natural products. The results of this study opened up the possibility of generating new triterpene synthases with additional novel functions through point mutations.