P-15 植物由来糖転移酵素を活用した配糖体合成とその機能性解明研究(ポスター発表の部)

Because prodrugs ,procosumetics and prosupplements (precursors of drugs, cosmetics and dietary supplements that are metabolized within the body to form the corresponding bioactive materials) have recently attracted a great deal of attention, there is a growing need for techniques that are capable of selective chemical modification of functional compounds. I have focused on glycosylation, particularly glycosylation, as one such type of chemical modification. There have been many studies on the production of useful substances by organic syntheses through routes that incorporate reactions induced by biocatalysts, such as cultured cells or enzymes, and the results of such studies have been applied in the production of a range of fine chemicals, including pharmaceuticals, aroma chemicals, and food additives. Among the biocatalysts that have been used are microorganisms, fungi, yeasts, animal cells, and enzymes extracted from these sources. In addition, biotransformations effected by using cultured plant cells as biocatalysts have recently attracted attention. Plants, which live on land and are generally incapable of movement, produce various secondary metabolites for the purposes of self-defense and signal transduction. As a result, plant cells contain a range of enzymes that have inherent abilities to transform or to synthesize organic substances. With the aim of utilizing the intrinsic ability of plant enzymes to effect biotransformations, we have studied biotransformations of exogenous substances (biological compounds) by cultured plant cells and I have succeeded in effecting a range of reactions, including reduction, hydrolysis, isomerization, glycosylation, esterification, and hydroxylation reactions, by using cultured plant cells as biocatalysts. Glycosylation by plant cells is a particularly important reaction that is involved in the activation of metabolites in cells and might, therefore, be useful in stabilizing various biologically active compounds or in activating various physiological functions. Here we repot the results of our studies to date on the biotransformation and functional activity of bioactive compounds.