Engineering gliadin degrading enzymes for gluten-free bread production

谷蛋白是谷蛋白和麦醇溶蛋白的混合物，其中谷蛋白主要负责面包的耐嚼质地，而麦醇溶蛋白负责几种谷蛋白相关疾病。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发现的谷蛋白的反应引发的，这些谷蛋白用于面包，意大利面和我们的许多日常斯台普斯。更多的人患有麸质敏感症，而英国约有60万人对小麦面筋过敏，这种过敏可能危及生命，称为乳糜泻。我们对麸质引起的健康问题的认识不断提高，导致无麸质食品的大量增长。超过五分之一的英国购物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，消费者往往对他们的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的解决方案，使无麸质面包的味道和感觉像传统面包，从而彻底改变面包制造业。目前的解决方案依赖于使用无麸质面粉（米粉、木薯淀粉、马铃薯淀粉），导致成本增加以及质地和味道的明显差异。** 我们的解决方案是独特的，它涉及一组新的酶，可以选择性地破坏麦醇溶蛋白的特定部分 **，这是负责面筋相关的问题，而留下其余的面筋蛋白完整。通过针对这些特定部位，我们希望在不影响面包整体质地和风味的情况下消除与面筋相关的问题。我们目前正在对这些酶进行表征，随后将优化它们的活性，以达到面包中所需的面筋含量。然后我们将进入面包制作阶段，在那里我们将确认酶不会影响面包的质地。最后，我们会进行感官测试，以确保无麸质面包尝起来像传统面包。我们的方法使用从微生物中提取的面筋破坏酶来选择性地降解小麦粉中导致健康问题的面筋。我们的解决方案提供了一个真实的和健康的替代品，类似于传统的面包在质地和风味，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.