Malassezia globosa belongs to Malassezia, associated with common skin disorders like dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (D/SD). SMG1 hydrolyses diolein but not triolein
(Below N is a link to NCBI taxonomic web page and E link to ESTHER at designed phylum.) > cellular organisms: NE > Eukaryota: NE > Opisthokonta: NE > Fungi: NE > Dikarya: NE > Basidiomycota: NE > Ustilaginomycotina: NE > Malasseziomycetes: NE > Malasseziales: NE > Malasseziaceae: NE > Malassezia: NE > Malassezia globosa: NE
LegendThis sequence has been compared to family alignement (MSA) red => minority aminoacid blue => majority aminoacid color intensity => conservation rate title => sequence position(MSA position)aminoacid rate Catalytic site Catalytic site in the MSA MLFSRFVLLAFGSVAAVSASSIYARGRGGSSTDQPVANPYNTKEISLAAG LVQQTYCDSTENGLKIGDSELLYTMGEGYARQRVNIYHSPSLGIAVAIEG TNLFSLNSDLHDAKFWQEDPNERYIQYYPKGTKLMHGFQQAYNDLMDDIF TAVKKYKKEKNEKRVTVIGHSLGAAMGLLCAMDIELRMDGGLYKTYLFGL PRLGNPTFASFVDQKIGDKFHSIINGRDWVPTVPPRALGYQHPSDYVWIY PGNSTSAKLYPGQENVHGILTVAREFNFDDHQGIYFHTQIGAVMGECPAQ VGAH
References
14 moreTitle: Enhancing the thermostability of a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase from Malassizia globose by stabilizing a flexible loop in the catalytic pocket Xing YN, Tan J, Wang Y, Wang J Ref: Enzyme Microb Technol, 149:109849, 2021 : PubMed
A lipase from Malassizia globose, named SMG1, is highly desirable for industrial application due to its substrate specificity towards mono- and diacylglycerol. To improve its thermostability, we constructed a mutant library using an error-prone polymerase chain reaction, which was screened for both initial and residual enzymatic activity. Selected mutants were further studied using purified proteins for their kinetic thermostability at 45 degC, T(50) (the temperature at which the enzyme loses half of its activity), and the optimal reaction temperature. Results showed that the majority of mutations with improved thermostability were on the protein surface. D245N and L270P showed the most significant thermostability enhancement with an approximately 3 degC increase in T(50) compared to wild-type (WT). In addition, combining these two mutations resulted in an increase of T(50) by 5 degreesC. Also, the optimal reaction temperatures of L270P and this double mutant are 10 degC higher than WT. The double mutant showed an approximately 100-fold increase in half-life at 45 degC and higher enzymatic activities at 30 degC and above compared to WT. High-temperature unfolding molecular dynamics simulation suggested that the double mutant stabilized a flexible loop in the catalytic pocket.
        
Title: Residue Asn277 Affects the Stability and Substrate Specificity of the SMG1 Lipase from Malassezia globosa Lan D, Wang Q, Xu J, Zhou P, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Int J Mol Sci, 16:7273, 2015 : PubMed
Thermostability and substrate specificity are important characteristics of enzymes for industrial application, which can be improved by protein engineering. SMG1 lipase from Malassezia globosa is a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase (MDL) that shows activity toward mono- and diacylglycerols, but no activity toward triacylglycerols. SMG1 lipase is considered a potential biocatalyst applied in oil/fat modification and its crystal structure revealed that an interesting residue-Asn277 may contribute to stabilize loop 273-278 and the 3104 helix which are important to enzyme characterization. In this study, to explore its role in affecting the stability and catalytic activity, mutagenesis of N277 with Asp (D), Val (V), Leu (L) and Phe (F) was conducted. Circular dichroism (CD) spectral analysis and half-life measurement showed that the N277D mutant has better thermostability. The melting temperature and half-life of the N277D mutant were 56.6 degrees C and 187 min, respectively, while that was 54.6 degrees C and 121 min for SMG1 wild type (WT). Biochemical characterization of SMG1 mutants were carried out to test whether catalytic properties were affected by mutagenesis. N277D had similar enzymatic properties as SMG1 WT, but N277F showed a different substrate selectivity profile as compared to other SMG1 mutants. Analysis of the SMG1 3D model suggested that N277D formed a salt bridge via its negative charged carboxyl group with a positively charged guanidino group of R227, which might contribute to confer N277D higher temperature stability. These findings not only provide some clues to understand the molecular basis of the lipase structure/function relationship but also lay the framework for engineering suitable MDL lipases for industrial applications.
        
Title: Crystal structure of a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase from Malassezia globosa reveals a novel lid conformation and insights into the substrate specificity Xu T, Liu L, Hou S, Xu J, Yang B, Wang Y, Liu J Ref: J Struct Biol, 178:363, 2012 : PubMed
Most lipases contain a lid domain to shield the hydrophobic binding site from the water environment. The lid, mostly in helical form, can undergo a conformational change to expose the active cleft during the interfacial activation. Here we report the crystal structures of Malassezia globosa LIP1 (SMG1) at 1.45 and 2.60 resolution in two crystal forms. The structures present SMG1 in its closed form, with a novel lid in loop conformation. SMG1 is one of the few members in the fungal lipase family that has been found to be strictly specific for mono- and diacylglycerol. To date, the mechanism for this substrate specificity remains largely unknown. To investigate the substrate binding properties, we built a model of SMG1 in open conformation. Based on this model, we found that the two bulky hydrophobic residues adjacent to the catalytic site and the N-terminal hinge region of the lid both may act as steric hindrances for triacylglycerols binding. These unique structural features of SMG1 will provide a better understanding on the substrate specificity of mono- and diacylglycerol lipases and a platform for further functional study of this enzyme.
        
14 lessTitle: Synthesis and Characterization of Epoxidized Silkworm Pupae Oil and Its Application as Polyvinyl Chloride Ji Y, Xu L, Xu Q, Liu X, Lin S, Liao S, Wang W, Lan D Ref: Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 194:1290, 2022 : PubMed
More and more industries demand environmental friendliness. Silkworm pupae oil (SPO), extracted from the desilked silkworm pupae, can serve as a promising substrate alternative to use in plasticization. This study aimed to prepare epoxidized silkworm pupae oil (ESPO) and investigate their effects on the thermal stability and plasticization of polyvinyl chloride (PVC) films. A chemo-enzymatic method of ESPO was developed in the presence of Lipase SMG1-F278N and H(2)O(2) in natural deep eutectic solvents (DESs). Lipase SMG1-F278N could initiate the epoxidation reaction effectively at room temperature with a negligible loss of activities 10 batches. A maximum oxirane value of 6.94% was obtained. The formation of oxirane ring in ESPO was confirmed by FTIR and (13)C NMR spectra. Moreover, ESPO showed a better thermal stability and lower freezing point than epoxidized soybean oil (ESO). It was demonstrated that ESPO had a good frost resistance. In addition, ESPO showed a significantly improved plasticizing effect on flexible polyvinyl chloride (PVC). Compared with ESO, ESPO could increase the tensile elongation at break effectively. A significantly lower migration rate of plasticizer was observed in PVC plasticized with ESPO.
        
Title: Engineering the Thermostability of the Mono- and Diacylglycerol Lipase SMG1 for the Synthesis of Diacylglycerols Li L, Wang Y, Cui R, Wang F, Lan D Ref: Foods, 11:4069, 2022 : PubMed
Diacylglycerols (DAGs) display huge application prospectives in food industries. Therefore, new strategies to produce diacylglycerides are needed. Malassezia globose lipase (SMG1) could be used to synthesize DAGs. However, the poor thermostability of SMG1 seriously hampers its application. Herein, a rational design was used to generate a more thermostable SMG1. Compared with the wild type (WT), the M5D mutant (Q34P/A37P/M176V/G177A/M294R/ G28C-P206C), which contains five single-point mutations and one additional disulfide bond, displayed a 14.0 degreesC increase in the melting temperature (T(m)), 5 degreesC in the optimal temperature, and 1154.3-fold in the half-life (t(1/2)) at 55 degreesC. Meanwhile, the specific activity towards DAGs of the M5D variant was improved by 3.0-fold compared to the WT. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations revealed that the M5D mutant showed an improved rigid structure. Additionally, the WT and the M5D variants were immobilized and used for the production of DAGs. Compared with the WT, the immobilized M5D-catalyzed esterification showed a 9.1% higher DAG content and a 22.9% increase in residual activity after nine consecutive cycles. This study will pave the way for the industrial application of SMG1.
        
Title: Enhancing the thermostability of a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase from Malassizia globose by stabilizing a flexible loop in the catalytic pocket Xing YN, Tan J, Wang Y, Wang J Ref: Enzyme Microb Technol, 149:109849, 2021 : PubMed
A lipase from Malassizia globose, named SMG1, is highly desirable for industrial application due to its substrate specificity towards mono- and diacylglycerol. To improve its thermostability, we constructed a mutant library using an error-prone polymerase chain reaction, which was screened for both initial and residual enzymatic activity. Selected mutants were further studied using purified proteins for their kinetic thermostability at 45 degC, T(50) (the temperature at which the enzyme loses half of its activity), and the optimal reaction temperature. Results showed that the majority of mutations with improved thermostability were on the protein surface. D245N and L270P showed the most significant thermostability enhancement with an approximately 3 degC increase in T(50) compared to wild-type (WT). In addition, combining these two mutations resulted in an increase of T(50) by 5 degreesC. Also, the optimal reaction temperatures of L270P and this double mutant are 10 degC higher than WT. The double mutant showed an approximately 100-fold increase in half-life at 45 degC and higher enzymatic activities at 30 degC and above compared to WT. High-temperature unfolding molecular dynamics simulation suggested that the double mutant stabilized a flexible loop in the catalytic pocket.
        
Title: Highly Efficient Deacidification of High-Acid Rice Bran Oil Using Methanol as a Novel Acyl Acceptor Li D, Faiza M, Ali S, Wang W, Tan CP, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Appl Biochem Biotechnol, 184:1061, 2018 : PubMed
A highly efficient process for reducing the fatty acid (FA) content of high-acid rice bran oil (RBO) was developed by immobilized partial glycerides-selective lipase SMG1-F278N-catalyzed esterification/transesterification using methanol as a novel acyl acceptor. Molecular docking simulation indicated that methanol was much closer to the catalytic serine (Ser-171) compared with ethanol and glycerol, which might be one of the reasons for its high efficiency in the deacidification of high-acid RBO. Additionally, the reaction parameters were optimized to minimize the FA content of high-acid RBO. Under the optimal conditions (substrate molar ratio of methanol to FAs of 1.8:1, enzyme loading of 40sU/g, and at 30s degreesC), FA content decreased from 25.14 to 0.03% after 6sh of reaction. Immobilized SMG1-F278N exhibited excellent methanol tolerance and retained almost 100% of its initial activity after being used for ten batches. After purification by molecular distillation, the final product contained 97.86% triacylglycerol, 2.10% diacylglycerol, and 0.04% FA. The acid value of the final product was 0.09smg KOH/g, which reached the grade one standard of edible oil. Overall, methanol was a superior acyl acceptor for the deacidification of high-acid RBO and the high reusability of immobilized SMG1-F278N indicates an economically attractive process.
        
Title: Lid mobility in lipase SMG1 validated using a thiol/disulfide redox potential probe Guo S, Popowicz GM, Li D, Yuan D, Wang Y Ref: FEBS Open Bio, 6:477, 2016 : PubMed
Most lipases possess a lid domain above the catalytic site that is responsible for their activation. Lipase SMG1 from Malassezia globose CBS 7966 (Malassezia globosa LIP1), is a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase with an atypical loop-like lid domain. Activation of SMG1 was proposed to be solely through a gating mechanism involving two residues (F278 and N102). However, through disulfide bond cross-linking of the lid, this study shows that full activation also requires mobility of the lid domain, contrary to a previous proposal. The newly introduced disulfide bond makes lipase SMG1 eligible as a ratiometric thiol/disulfide redox potential probe, when it is coupled with chromogenic substrates. This redox-switch lipase could also be of potential use in cascade biocatalysis.
        
Title: Simplified Enzymatic Upgrading of High-Acid Rice Bran Oil Using Ethanol as a Novel Acyl Acceptor Li D, Wang W, Durrani R, Li X, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64:6730, 2016 : PubMed
One of the major challenges in the upgrading of high-acid rice bran oil (RBO) is to efficiently reduce the amount of free fatty acids. Here we report a novel method for upgrading high-acid RBO using ethanol as a novel acyl acceptor in combination with a highly selective lipase from Malassezia globosa (SMG1-F278N). This process enabled an unprecedented deacidification efficiency of up to 99.80% in a short time (6 h); the immobilized SMG1-F278N used in deacidification exhibited excellent operational stability and could be used for at least 10 consecutive batches without detectable loss in activity. Scale-up was performed under optimized conditions to verify the applicability of this process, and low-acid (0.08%) RBO with a high level of gamma-oryzanol (27.8 g/kg) and gamma-oryzanol accumulation fold (1.5) was obtained after molecular distillation at lower temperature (120 degreesC). Overall, we report a simplified and efficient procedure for the production of edible RBO from high-acid RBO.
        
Title: A Novel Process for the Synthesis of Highly Pure n-3 Polyunsaturated Fatty Acid (PUFA)-Enriched Triglycerides by Combined Transesterification and Ethanolysis Li D, Wang W, Qin X, Li X, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, 64:6533, 2016 : PubMed
In this study, a novel two-step enzymatic reaction was developed for the synthesis of highly pure triacylglycerols (TAGs) with a high content of n-3 polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs). Glyceride mixtures were primarily synthesized by Novozym 435-catalyzed transesterification of glycerol and DHA/EPA-rich ethyl esters (EEs), followed by removal of partial glycerides, for the first time, by immobilized mono- and diacylglycerol lipase SMG1-F278N-catalyzed ethanolysis. TAG yield as high as 98.66% was achieved under the optimized conditions, and highly pure (98.75%) n-3 PUFA-enriched TAGs with 88.44% of n-3 PUFA was obtained after molecular distillation at lower temperature (140 degreesC). In addition, the EEs produced during ethanolysis had a FA composition similar to that of the original EEs, making them feasible for cyclic utilization. This was the first study reporting removal of partial glycerides by ethanolysis. Through ethanolysis, a higher purity product could be easily obtained at a relatively low temperature compared with the conventional high-temperature molecular distillation.
        
Title: Novel inhibitor against Malassezia globosa LIP1 (SMG1), a potential anti-dandruff target Guo S, Huang W, Zhang J, Wang Y Ref: Bioorganic & Medicinal Chemistry Lett, 25:3464, 2015 : PubMed
Compelling evidence have demonstrated the role of lipase activity in the pathogenicity of Malassezia globosa toward dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (D/SD). As a representative secreted lipase from M. globosa CBS 7966, Malassezia globosa LIP1 (SMG1) is considered a potential anti-dandruff target. In this study, homology modeling, docking-based virtual screening and in vitro lipase-based assay were integrated to identify the first hit compound against SMG1, with an IC50 of 20 microM against synthetic lipase substrate, and of 0.19 microM when using natural lipase substrate. Evaluation of similar compounds, along with docking, offered information on the binding patterns of the hit compound. This work is expected to serve as a starting point for the rational design of more potent inhibitors against SMG1.
Monoacylglycerol and diacylglycerol lipases are industrially interesting enzymes, due to the health benefits that arise from the consumption of diglycerides compared to the traditional triglyceride oils. Most lipases possess an alpha-helix (lid) directly over the catalytic pocket which regulates the activity of the enzyme. Generally, lipases exist in active and inactive conformations, depending on the positioning of this lid subdomain. However, lipase SMG1, a monoacylglycerol and diacylglycerol specific lipase, has an atypical activation mechanism. In the present study we were able to prove by crystallography, in silico analysis and activity tests that only two positions, residues 102 and 278, are responsible for a gating mechanism that regulates the active and inactive states of the lipase, and that no significant structural changes take place during activation except for oxyanion hole formation. The elucidation of the gating effect provided data enabling the rational design of improved lipases with 6-fold increase in the hydrolytic activity toward diacylglycerols, just by providing additional substrate stabilization with a single mutation (F278N or F278T). Due to the conservation of F278 among the monoacylglycerol and diacylglycerol lipases in the Rhizomucor miehei lipase-like family, the gating mechanism described herein might represent a general mechanism applicable to other monoacylglycerol and diacylglycerol lipases as well. DATABASE: Structural data are available in the Protein Data Bank under the accession numbers 4ZRE (F278D mutant) and 4ZRD (F278N mutant).
        
Title: Residue Asn277 Affects the Stability and Substrate Specificity of the SMG1 Lipase from Malassezia globosa Lan D, Wang Q, Xu J, Zhou P, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Int J Mol Sci, 16:7273, 2015 : PubMed
Thermostability and substrate specificity are important characteristics of enzymes for industrial application, which can be improved by protein engineering. SMG1 lipase from Malassezia globosa is a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase (MDL) that shows activity toward mono- and diacylglycerols, but no activity toward triacylglycerols. SMG1 lipase is considered a potential biocatalyst applied in oil/fat modification and its crystal structure revealed that an interesting residue-Asn277 may contribute to stabilize loop 273-278 and the 3104 helix which are important to enzyme characterization. In this study, to explore its role in affecting the stability and catalytic activity, mutagenesis of N277 with Asp (D), Val (V), Leu (L) and Phe (F) was conducted. Circular dichroism (CD) spectral analysis and half-life measurement showed that the N277D mutant has better thermostability. The melting temperature and half-life of the N277D mutant were 56.6 degrees C and 187 min, respectively, while that was 54.6 degrees C and 121 min for SMG1 wild type (WT). Biochemical characterization of SMG1 mutants were carried out to test whether catalytic properties were affected by mutagenesis. N277D had similar enzymatic properties as SMG1 WT, but N277F showed a different substrate selectivity profile as compared to other SMG1 mutants. Analysis of the SMG1 3D model suggested that N277D formed a salt bridge via its negative charged carboxyl group with a positively charged guanidino group of R227, which might contribute to confer N277D higher temperature stability. These findings not only provide some clues to understand the molecular basis of the lipase structure/function relationship but also lay the framework for engineering suitable MDL lipases for industrial applications.
        
Title: The Role of Residues 103, 104, and 278 in the Activity of SMG1 Lipase from Malassezia globosa: A Site-Directed Mutagenesis Study Lan D, Wang Q, Popowicz GM, Yang B, Tang Q, Wang Y Ref: J Microbiol Biotechnol, 25:1827, 2015 : PubMed
The SMG1 lipase from Malassezia globosa is a newly found mono- and diacylglycerol (DAG) lipase that has a unique lid in the loop conformation that differs from the common alpha-helix lid. In the present study, we characterized the contribution of three residues, L103 and F104 in the lid and F278 in the rim of the binding site groove, on the function of SMG1 lipase. Sitedirected mutagenesis was conducted at these sites, and each of the mutants was expressed in the yeast Pichia pastoris, purified, and characterized for their activity toward DAG and pnitrophenol (pNP) ester. Compared with wild-type SMG1, F278A retained approximately 78% of its activity toward DAG, but only 11% activity toward pNP octanoate (pNP-C8). L103G increased its activity on pNP-C8 by approximately 2-fold, whereas F104G showed an approximate 40% decrease in pNP-C8 activity, and they both showed decreased activity on the DAG emulsion. The deletion of 103-104 retained approximately 30% of its activity toward the DAG emulsion, with an almost complete loss of pNP-C8 activity. The deletion of 103-104 showed a weaker penetration ability to a soybean phosphocholine monolayer than wild-type SMG1. Based on the modulation of the specificity and activity observed, a pNP-C8 binding model for the ester (pNP-C8, N102, and F278 form a flexible bridge) and a specific lipidanchoring mechanism for DAG (L103 and F104 serve as "anchors" to the lipid interface) were proposed.
        
Title: A mechanistic study into the epoxidation of carboxylic acid and alkene in a mono, di-acylglycerol lipase Wang X, Tang Q, Popowicz GM, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications, 460:392, 2015 : PubMed
More and more industrial chemistry reactions rely on green technologies. Enzymes are finding increasing use in diverse chemical processes. Epoxidized vegetable oils have recently found applications as plasticizers and additives for PVC production. We report here an unusual activity of the Malassezia globosa lipase (SMG1) that is able to catalyze epoxidation of alkenes. SMG1 catalyzes formation of peroxides from long chain carboxylic acids that subsequently react with double bonds of alkenes to produce epoxides. The SMG1 is selective towards carboxylic acids and active also as a mutant lacking hydrolase activity. Moreover we present previously unobserved mechanism of catalysis that does not rely on acyl-substrate complex nor tetrahedral intermediate. Since SMG1 lipase is activated by allosteric change upon binding to the lipophilic-hydrophilic phase interface we reason that it can be used to drive the epoxidation in the lipophilic phase exclusively.
        
Title: Site-directed mutagenesis studies of the aromatic residues at the active site of a lipase from Malassezia globosa Gao C, Lan D, Liu L, Zhang H, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Biochimie, 102:29, 2014 : PubMed
The lipase from Malassezia globosa (SMG1) has specific activity on mono- and diacylglycerol but not on triacylglycerol. The structural analysis of SMG1 structure shows that two bulky aromatic residues, W116 and W229, lie at the entrance of the active site. To study the functions of these two residues in the substrate recognition and the catalytic reaction, they were mutated to a series of amino acids. Subsequently, biochemical properties of these mutants were investigated. Although the activities decrease, W229L and W116A show a significant shift in substrate preference. W229L has an increased preference for short-chain substrates whereas W116A has preference for long-chain substrates. Besides, the half-lives of W116A and W116H at 45 degrees C are 346.6 min and 115.5 min respectively, which improve significantly compared to that of native enzyme. Moreover, the optimum substrate of W116A, W116F and W229F mutants shifted from p-nitrophenyl caprylate to p-nitrophenyl myristate. These findings not only shed light onto the lipase structure/function relationship but also lay the framework for the potential industrial applications.
        
Title: Molecular basis for substrate selectivity of a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase from Malassezia globosa Liu L, Gao C, Lan D, Yang B, Wang Y Ref: Biochemical & Biophysical Research Communications, 424:285, 2012 : PubMed
The lipase from Malassezia globosa (SMG1) was identified to be strictly specific for mono- and diacylglycerol but not triacylglycerol. The crystal structures of SMG1 were solved in the closed conformation, but they failed to provide direct evidence of factors responsible for this unique selectivity. To address this problem, we constructed a structure in the open, active conformation and modeled a diacylglycerol analogue into the active site. Molecular dynamics simulations were performed on this enzyme-analogue complex to relax steric clashes. This bound diacylglycerol analogue unambiguously identified the position of two pockets which accommodated two alkyl chains of substrate. The structure of SMG1-analogue complex revealed that Leu103 and Phe278 divided the catalytic pocket into two separated moieties, an exposed groove and a narrow tunnel. Analysis of the binding model suggested that the unique selectivity of this lipase mainly resulted from the shape and size of this narrow tunnel, in which there was no space for the settlement of the third chain of triacylglycerol. These results expand our understanding on the mechanism underlying substrate selectivity of enzyme, and could pave the way for site-directed mutagenesis experiments to improve the enzyme for application.
        
Title: Crystal structure of a mono- and diacylglycerol lipase from Malassezia globosa reveals a novel lid conformation and insights into the substrate specificity Xu T, Liu L, Hou S, Xu J, Yang B, Wang Y, Liu J Ref: J Struct Biol, 178:363, 2012 : PubMed
Most lipases contain a lid domain to shield the hydrophobic binding site from the water environment. The lid, mostly in helical form, can undergo a conformational change to expose the active cleft during the interfacial activation. Here we report the crystal structures of Malassezia globosa LIP1 (SMG1) at 1.45 and 2.60 resolution in two crystal forms. The structures present SMG1 in its closed form, with a novel lid in loop conformation. SMG1 is one of the few members in the fungal lipase family that has been found to be strictly specific for mono- and diacylglycerol. To date, the mechanism for this substrate specificity remains largely unknown. To investigate the substrate binding properties, we built a model of SMG1 in open conformation. Based on this model, we found that the two bulky hydrophobic residues adjacent to the catalytic site and the N-terminal hinge region of the lid both may act as steric hindrances for triacylglycerols binding. These unique structural features of SMG1 will provide a better understanding on the substrate specificity of mono- and diacylglycerol lipases and a platform for further functional study of this enzyme.
Dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis (D/SD) are common hyperproliferative scalp disorders with a similar etiology. Both result, in part, from metabolic activity of Malassezia globosa and Malassezia restricta, commensal basidiomycete yeasts commonly found on human scalps. Current hypotheses about the mechanism of D/SD include Malassezia-induced fatty acid metabolism, particularly lipase-mediated breakdown of sebaceous lipids and release of irritating free fatty acids. We report that lipase activity was detected in four species of Malassezia, including M. globosa. We isolated lipase activity by washing M. globosa cells. The isolated lipase was active against diolein, but not triolein. In contrast, intact cells showed lipase activity against both substrates, suggesting the presence of at least another lipase. The diglyceride-hydrolyzing lipase was purified from the extract, and much of its sequence was determined by peptide sequencing. The corresponding lipase gene (LIP1) was cloned and sequenced. Confirmation that LIP1 encoded a functional lipase was obtained using a covalent lipase inhibitor. LIP1 was differentially expressed in vitro. Expression was detected on three out of five human scalps, as indicated by reverse transcription-PCR. This is the first step in a molecular description of lipid metabolism on the scalp, ultimately leading toward a test of its role in D/SD etiology.
Fungi in the genus Malassezia are ubiquitous skin residents of humans and other warm-blooded animals. Malassezia are involved in disorders including dandruff and seborrheic dermatitis, which together affect >50% of humans. Despite the importance of Malassezia in common skin diseases, remarkably little is known at the molecular level. We describe the genome, secretory proteome, and expression of selected genes of Malassezia globosa. Further, we report a comparative survey of the genome and secretory proteome of Malassezia restricta, a close relative implicated in similar skin disorders. Adaptation to the skin environment and associated pathogenicity may be due to unique metabolic limitations and capabilities. For example, the lipid dependence of M. globosa can be explained by the apparent absence of a fatty acid synthase gene. The inability to synthesize fatty acids may be complemented by the presence of multiple secreted lipases to aid in harvesting host lipids. In addition, an abundance of genes encoding secreted hydrolases (e.g., lipases, phospholipases, aspartyl proteases, and acid sphingomyelinases) was found in the M. globosa genome. In contrast, the phylogenetically closely related plant pathogen Ustilago maydis encodes a different arsenal of extracellular hydrolases with more copies of glycosyl hydrolase genes. M. globosa shares a similar arsenal of extracellular hydrolases with the phylogenetically distant human pathogen, Candida albicans, which occupies a similar niche, indicating the importance of host-specific adaptation. The M. globosa genome sequence also revealed the presence of mating-type genes, providing an indication that Malassezia may be capable of sex.