Microbes Producing L-Asparaginase free of Glutaminase and Urease isolated from Extreme Locations of Antarctic Soil and Moss

Abstract

L-Asparaginase (L-asparagine aminohydrolase, E.C. 3.5.1.1) has been proven to be competent in treating Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL), which is widely observed in paediatric and adult groups. Currently, clinical L-Asparaginase formulations are derived from bacterial sources such as Escherichia coli and Erwinia chrysanthemi. These formulations when administered to ALL patients lead to several immunological and hypersensitive reactions. Hence, additional purification steps are required to remove toxicity induced by the amalgamation of other enzymes like glutaminase and urease. Production of L-Asparaginase that is free of glutaminase and urease is a major area of research. In this paper, we report the screening and isolation of fungal species collected from the soil and mosses in the Schirmacher Hills, Dronning Maud Land, Antarctica, that produce L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease. A total of 55 isolates were obtained from 33 environmental samples that were tested by conventional plate techniques using Phenol red and Bromothymol blue as indicators. Among the isolated fungi, 30 isolates showed L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease. The L-Asparaginase producing strain Trichosporon asahii IBBLA1, which showed the highest zone index, was then optimized with a Taguchi design. Optimum enzyme activity of 20.57 U mL−1 was obtained at a temperature of 30 °C and pH of 7.0 after 60 hours. Our work suggests that isolation of fungi from extreme environments such as Antarctica may lead to an important advancement in therapeutic applications with fewer side effects.

L-asparaginase produced from soil isolates of Pseudomonas aeruginosa shows potent anti-cancer activity on HeLa cells

“…Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) is a blood cancer commonly ripens in children. Treatment with L-asparaginase enzyme was shown to achieve complete remission in ALL (Ashok et al, 2019, Brumano et al,2018) which was shown to be mediated by hydrolysis of aspartic acid-ammonia in the blood (Pike et al,2019). When L-asparaginase is administered to ALL patients, it depletes asparagine levels in the blood.…”

Hydrolytic Exoenzymes Produced by Bacteria Isolated and Identified From the Gastrointestinal Tract of Bombay Duck

“…The isolates were grown on media containing specific substrates for the respective enzymes as performed in the screening experiment described above and diameter of the zones of clearance and that of the colonies were measured. Amount of the enzyme produced was then calculated, and expressed as enzyme intensity (EI) where EI = (colony diameter + halo zone diameter)/colony diameter ( Aleem et al, 2018 ; Ashok et al, 2019 ). Each experiment was performed in triplicate and averaged.…”

Extracellular Enzymes and Bioactive Compounds from Antarctic Terrestrial Fungi for Bioprospecting

“…They demonstrated to produce L-Asparaginase free of glutaminase and urease, proven to be competent in treating acute lymphoblastic leukaemia which is most common type of childhood cancer. Among the strains screened, T. asahii IBBLA1 exhibited the highest enzyme activity [43].…”