Synthetic Biology & Biocatalysis

Synthetic Biology & Biocatalysis Platform

Apeloa has established a comprehensive synthetic biology platform to support the development of efficient and robust non-GMP and GMP-compliant bio-production processes. With over 20 years of experience in bio-production technologies, including fermentation and enzyme production, Apeloa CDMO is well-positioned to handle complex bio-production projects. The platform is supported by state-of-the-art laboratories and an experienced team of highly educated bio-scientists and engineers.

20 ⁺

years of experience in bio-production technologies
150 ⁺

fermentation reactors for manufacturing at variable scale

Team

The synthetic biology and biocatalysis R&D team, located at Geshan site, comprises more than 70 scientists. The team includes dedicated experts in strain engineering, biotransformation, fermentation, and downstream processing (DSP). Led by experienced scientists, the team has a proven track record in developing industrial viable biocatalysts and delivering successful bio-production processes.

Services

Apeloa's synthetic biology platform offers a comprehensive range of services, including: ●Microbial strain improvement and optimization ●Fermentation process development and optimization ●Separation and downstream processing (DSP) ●Biotransformation and enzyme engineering ●Synthetic biology techniques (e.g., gene editing, high-throughput screening)

Equipment

The platform is equipped with state-of-the-art facilities/equipment, including:

Gel imaging system
High throughput shaker
Parallel reactor
PCR
Microplate reader
GC/GCMS
LCMS
Rapidfire HT MS

Gel imaging system

High throughput shaker

Parallel reactor

PCR

Microplate reader

GC/GCMS

LCMS

Rapidfire HT MS

Case 1

Case 2

Case 3

Engineering of amino transferase

● In-house library of amino transferases were screened for the target reaction. ● The best hit gave the desired product enantiomer but with low yield (30% for 10 mM substrate & 100 mM alanine). ● Mutagenesis in the enzyme’s substrate pocket did not improve the activity. ● Random mutagenesis with ep-PCR in combination of RapidFire 460 HT mass spectrometry system resulted in a variant with 5 times higher activity

Enzyme engineering for selective nitrile hydrolysis

● In-house nitrilases were screened against the target reaction. Two were found with moderate activity for the hydrolysis of terminal nitrile group. ● The structure of the enzymes were obtained via homologous modeling to help identify substrate pockets. ● The residues in the pocket were subjected to mutagenesis and screening (shown at right). Seventeen variants with 4-11 times improved activity was obtained. ● A variant showed. ● Process was developed to scale up the reaction in 40 kg scale, affording 3 kg product with 99% ee and 73% yield (substrate was recycled via racemization).

Enzyme screening

● Screening of in-house lipases and esterases to find an active enzyme for the kinetic resolution of a racemic alcohol via esterification. ● The reaction was transferred to chemical process team for scale-up and integration with downstream derivatization.