title: Microbial production of nattokinase: current progress, challenge and prospect.
abstract: Nattokinase (EC 3.4.21.62) is a profibrinolytic serine protease with a potent fibrin-degrading activity, and it has been produced by many host strains. Compared to other fibrinolytic enzymes (urokinase, t-PA and streprokinase), nattokinase shows the advantages of having no side effects, low cost and long life-time, and it has the potential to be used as a drug for treating cardiovascular disease and served as a functional food additive. In this review, we focused on screening of producing strains, genetic engineering, fermentation process optimization for microbial nattokinase production, and the extraction and purification of nattokinase were also discussed in this particular chapter. The selection of optimal nattokinase producing strain was the crucial starting element for improvement of nattokinase production. Genetic engineering, protein engineering, fermentation optimization and process control have been proved to be the effective strategies for enhancement of nattokinase production. Also, extraction and purification of nattokinase are critical for the quality evaluation of nattokinase. Finally, the prospect of microbial nattokinase production was also discussed regarding the recent progress, challenge, and trends in this field.
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Transformation of Bio-Resources, College of Life Sciences, Hubei University, 368 Youyi Avenue, Wuchang District, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Dongbo
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Cai
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Transformation of Bio-Resources, College of Life Sciences, Hubei University, 368 Youyi Avenue, Wuchang District, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, People's Republic of China.
authors.forename: Chengjun
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Zhu
authors.affiliation: Hubei Collaborative Innovation Center for Green Transformation of Bio-Resources, College of Life Sciences, Hubei University, 368 Youyi Avenue, Wuchang District, Wuhan, 430062, Hubei, People's Republic of China. mel212@126.com.
authors.forename: Shouwen
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D001419:Bacteria / Q000145:classification / Q000378:metabolism*; D005285:Fermentation; D005516:Food Microbiology; D005818:Genetic Engineering / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D013381:Subtilisins / Q000302:isolation & purification* / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D013381:Subtilisins; C053771:nattokinase
keywords: Extraction and purification; Fermentation process optimization; Genetic engineering; Nattokinase; Protein engineering; Strain screening