The aim of the BioProNuk project is to develop reactors for enzyme cascades as a synthesis platform for the production of nucleotide sugars on a multi-gram to multi-100g scale from renewable raw materials. The focus is on the nucleotide sugars UDP-GalNAc, UDP-GlcNAc, UDP-GlcA, UDP-Gal, GDP Fuc, NDP-Glc, N = U, C, dT, A.
The targeted enzyme cascades are based on simple sugars from material flows of renewable raw materials, sucrose and polyphosphate. The enzyme cascades for nucleotide sugars have already been established by the Biomaterials Teaching and Research Centre at RWTH Aachen University. Using a repeated batch process, up to 14 nucleotide sugars can already be produced on a gram scale. However, this process does not yet have the technical maturity and economic viability for industrial synthesis and is also very labour-intensive.
In order to make the leap to the next economic production level, this project focuses on 1. regenerating the expensive cofactors, 2. improving the cascade enzymes through directed evolution and 3. developing an enzyme reactor.