title: Degradation of Aflatoxins by Means of Laccases from Trametes versicolor: An In Silico Insight.
abstract: Mycotoxins are secondary metabolites of fungi that contaminate food and feed, and are involved in a series of foodborne illnesses and disorders in humans and animals. The mitigation of mycotoxin content via enzymatic degradation is a strategy to ensure safer food and feed, and to address the forthcoming issues in view of the global trade and sustainability. Nevertheless, the search for active enzymes is still challenging and time-consuming. The in silico analysis may strongly support the research by providing the evidence-based hierarchization of enzymes for a rational design of more effective experimental trials. The present work dealt with the degradation of aflatoxin B₁ and M₁ by laccase enzymes fromTrametes versicolor. The enzymes-substrate interaction for various enzyme isoforms was investigated through 3D molecular modeling techniques. Structural differences among the isoforms have been pinpointed, which may cause different patterns of interaction between aflatoxin B₁ and M₁. The possible formation of different products of degradation can be argued accordingly. Moreover, the laccase gamma isoform was identified as the most suitable for protein engineering aimed at ameliorating the substrate specificity. Overall, 3D modeling proved to be an effective analytical tool to assess the enzyme-substrate interaction and provided a solid foothold for supporting the search of degrading enzyme at the early stage.
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy. luca.dellafiora@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Luca
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Dellafiora
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy. gianni.galaverna@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Gianni
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Galaverna
authors.affiliation: Department of Environmental Biology, Sapienza University, 00185 Rome, Italy. massimo.reverberi@uniroma1.it.
authors.forename: Massimo
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Reverberi
authors.affiliation: Department of Food Science, University of Parma, 43124 Parma, Italy. chiara.dallasta@unipr.it.
authors.forename: Chiara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Dall'Asta
mesh_terms: D016604:Aflatoxin B1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D016607:Aflatoxin M1 / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D005656:Fungal Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008658:Inactivation, Metabolic; D007527:Isoenzymes; D042845:Laccase / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D062105:Molecular Docking Simulation; D011487:Protein Conformation; D013329:Structure-Activity Relationship; D013379:Substrate Specificity; D055454:Trametes / Q000201:enzymology*
chemical_list: D005656:Fungal Proteins; D007527:Isoenzymes; D016607:Aflatoxin M1; D016604:Aflatoxin B1; D042845:Laccase
keywords: aflatoxins; biotransformation; enzymatic detoxification; food safety; laccase; mild technologies; mycotoxins mitigation