Engineering gliadin degrading enzymes for gluten-free bread production

谷蛋白是谷蛋白和麦胶蛋白的混合物，其中谷蛋白主要负责面包的耐嚼口感，而麦胶蛋白负责几种与谷蛋白相关的疾病。英国有超过1300万人患有肠易激综合征，这是由消化系统对小麦、大麦和其他谷物面粉中的麸质蛋白的反应引发的，这些谷物面粉用于制作面包、意大利面和许多日常主食。更多的人对麸质敏感，而在英国大约有60万人对小麦麸质有潜在的危及生命的过敏，被称为乳糜泻。我们越来越意识到麸质引起的健康问题，这导致了无麸质食品的巨大增长。超过五分之一的英国消费者现在经常购买无麸质产品，几乎所有的超市都提供各种无麸质面包、蛋糕、意大利面和啤酒。然而，消费者经常对无麸质面包的质地和味道感到失望，这些面包通常以高价出售。我们的项目旨在通过开发一种新颖的解决方案来彻底改变面包制作行业，使无麸质面包尝起来和传统面包一样。目前的解决方案依赖于使用无麸质面粉（米粉、木薯淀粉、土豆淀粉），导致成本增加，质地和味道也明显不同。**我们的解决方案是独一无二的，它涉及一套新的酶，可以选择性地破坏麦胶蛋白的特定部分**，这是负责麸质相关问题，同时保持其余的麸质蛋白完整。通过针对这些特定的部分，我们希望在不影响面包整体质地和风味的情况下消除与麸质有关的问题。这个项目包括几个阶段。我们目前正在对酶进行表征，随后将对其活性进行优化，以达到面包中所需的面筋含量。然后我们将进入制作面包的阶段，在那里我们将确认酶不会影响面包的质地。最后，我们将进行感官测试，以确保无麸质面包的味道与传统面包一样。我们的方法使用从微生物中提取的谷蛋白破坏酶来选择性地降解小麦粉中引起健康问题的谷蛋白。我们的解决方案提供了一种真正的、更健康的替代品，在质地和味道上与传统面包相似，价格合理。

Gluten is a mixture of glutenin and gliadin proteins, with glutenin mainly being responsible for the nice chewy texture of the bread while gliadin is responsible for several gluten related diseases. There are over 13 million people in the UK who suffer from irritable bowel syndrome that is triggered by the digestive system's response to the gluten proteins found in wheat, barley and other grain flours, which are used in bread, pasta and many of our daily food staples. Many more people suffer from gluten sensitivities, whilst around 600,000 individuals in the UK have the potential life-threatening allergy to wheat gluten known as coeliac disease.Our increasing awareness of the health issues arising from gluten has led to enormous growth in gluten-free food. Over one in five UK shoppers now regularly buy gluten-free products, and almost all of our supermarkets offer a wide selection of gluten-free bread, cakes, pasta and beers. However, consumers are often disappointed by the texture and flavour of their gluten-free bread which is usually being sold at an elevated price.Our project aims to revolutionize the bread-making industry by developing a novel solution that will make gluten-free bread taste and feel like traditional bread. Current solutions rely on using gluten-free flours (rice flour, tapioca starch, potato starch) leading to increased costs and a noticeable difference in texture and taste. **Our solution is unique and it involves a new set of enzymes that can selectively destroy specific parts of the gliadin protein**, which is responsible for gluten-related issues, while leaving the rest of the gluten protein intact. By targeting these specific parts, we hope to eliminate the gluten-related problems without affecting the overall texture and flavour of the bread.The project involves several stages. We are currently characterising the enzymes, which will be followed by optimizing their activity to achieve the desired gluten content in bread. We will then proceed to the bread-making stage, where we will confirm that the enzymes do not affect the texture of the bread. Finally, we will conduct sensory tests to ensure that the gluten-free bread tastes like traditional bread. Our method uses gluten destroying enzymes extracted from microbes to selectively degrade gluten in wheat flour that cause health problems. Our solution offers an authentic and healthier alternative that resembles conventional bread in texture and flavour at a reasonable price.