Chemical Production from Proteins

First generation bioethanol and biodiesel production, which mainly makes use of cereal grains and vegetable oils, represents a growing source of high quantities of protein as a valuable by-product. Sanders et al. (2007) estimated that a 10% substitution of fossil transportation fuels worldwide by first generation biofuels would result in an annual production of 100 million tonnes of protein - about four times the proteins requirement of the world s human population. A direct result of this would be the saturation of traditional protein markets. New opportunities would therefore emerge for chemical production from proteins. 

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Methionine was first reported from casein in 1922 by Mueller. It is a limiting amino acid in the monogastric s feed and the addition of synthetic methionine in animal feed started from the 1950s. The addition of amino acids in the feed increases the nutritional quality and conversion efficiency of low protein feed and hence lowers the feed cost. Methionine is commercially produced by either chemical synthesis, enzymatic methods or microbial fermentation. Methionine has an advantage that it can be supplied to animal feed as a chemically produced racemate or a racemic mixture as the mammals are able to convert it to utilizable form with a methionine racemase enzyme. Chemical production uses harmful chemicals and production from protein hydrolysates requires several separation steps. Chemical synthesis produces a racemic mixture and is acetylated to produce L-methionine. Microbial fermentation overcomes these difficulties and has added advantages over the racemate that it helps optimal nutrient utihzation. 

The liver has many functions and is critical to metabolism. The liver produces bile, consisting of bile salts and other chemicals, which is required for the digestion of lipids. The liver is also responsible for the conversion of waste products from protein metabolism into urea, which is eliminated in the urine. 

On February 28, 1935, Carothers project succeeded beyond anyone s wildest dreams. The cheerful, lively Frenchman Berchet produced a superpolymer made from chemicals derived from cheap benzene, a by-product of coal later they would be made from petroleum. A filament teased from Berchet s polymer was, despite its lowly origins, pearly and lustrous. And when it was tested, it proved to be spinnable. Its code name was 6-6 because both its reactants—hexamethylene diamine and adipic acid—had six carbon atoms. Technically, the filament was polyhexamethylene adipamide, a long-chain polymer similar in structure to proteins. It became world-famous as nylon. 

Compared with isolated enzymes, application of whole cells as biocatalysts is usually more economical since there is no protein purification process involved. Whole cells can be used directly in chemical processes, thereby greatly minimizing formulation costs. Whole cells are cheap to produce and no prior knowledge of genetic details is required. Microorganisms have adapted to the natural environment and produce both simple and complex metabolic products from their nutrient sources through complex, integrated pathways. 

At present, the purification by chromatographic processes is the most powerful high-resolution bioseparation technique for many different products from the laboratory to the industrial scale. In this context, continuous simulated moving bed (SMB) systems are of increasing interest for the purification of pharmaceuticals or specialty chemicals (racemic mixtures, proteins, organic acids, etc.).This is particularly due to the typical advantages of SMB-systems, such as reduction of solvent consumption, increase in productivity and purity obtained as well as in investment costs in comparison to conventional batch elution chromatography [1]. 

If the product is an antibody, then it is essential to distinguish the immunoglobulin product, e.g., mouse IgG, from any media immunoglobulin components, e.g., bovine IgG. Lucas et al.16 developed an immunoassay to measure nanogram quantities of bovine IgG in the presence of a large excess of a structurally homologous protein, mouse MAb. The bovine IgG was a contaminant that copurified with the product from a protein A column. For the bovine IgG assay, whole IgG and protein A-purified IgG reacted differently in the assay. It is important to evaluate these types of assays for cross-reactivity. For other media components, such as chemicals or antibiotics, ELISA is probably not the most appropriate method due to the low immunogenicity of chemicals. Techniques such as HPLC would be better to detect these chemical components. 

Neurotransmitter Production. Neurotransmitters are relatively simple chemicals, and our bodies make most of the ones that we use. The nerve cell receives precursor substances such as amino acids from proteins in the diet and chemically processes these precursors to form neurotransmitter chemicals. The neurotransmitter is then stored in small sacs inside the neuron called storage vesicles. These storage vesicles reside inside the axon terminals. 

The cause of the cell cycle specificity of the bisindole alkaloids may be associated with the ability of these compounds to interact with the protein tubulin and thereby inhibit the polymerization (and depolymerization) of microtubules (16,17). In this respect the cellular pharmacology of vinca alkaloids is similar to that of other cytotoxic natural products such as colchicine or podophyllotoxin. On closer inspection, however, Wilson determined that the specific binding site on tubulin occupied by vinblastine or vincristine is chemically distinct from the site occupied by the other natural products (18). Subsequent experiments have determined that the maytansinoids, a class of ansa-macrocycles structurally distinct from the bisindoles, may bind to tubulin at an adjacent (or overlapping) site (19). A partial correlation of the antimitotic activity of these compounds with their tubulin binding properties has been made, but discrepancies in cellular uptake probably preclude any quantitative relationship of these effects (20). 

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