Statistical approach to development of neovel method for lysophospholipid synthesis by lipase

Abstract

Lysophospholipids have been widely studied as new emulsifying agents, pharmaceutical agents and food preservatives. Lysophospholipids also have several physiological functions. They mediate several cellular mechanisms. Especially, many researches on lysophosphatidic acid(LPA) are in rapid progress. The increasing awareness of the importance of LPA``s role in physiological events has a great impact on lysophospholipid research. A better understanding of LPA``s role in platelet aggregation and pathophysiology could aid in the prevention or treatment of thrombotic events and could also contribute to the development of posthemorrhagic vasocontriction. It has been known that the kind of fatty acid in lysophospholipid is important in biological activity. Therefore, for the synthesis of these biologically useful lysophospholipids with desired fatty acid, easy and simple synthetic approach has been needed. In current chemical synthesis of lysophospholipid, very toxic and expensive solvents are being employed. Especially if the products are intended for use as clinical or pharmaceutical materials and food ingredients, toxic solvent should be avoided. And also substrates should be protected or modified for the stereospecific acylation of fatty acyl group. It has been known that the yield of lysophospholipid low in chemical synthesis. Therefore, for the lysophospholipid syntheis with desired fatty acid, several enzymes such as phospholipase $A_2$ and phospholipase D are being used currently. But it is difficult to obtain those enzyme sources in large quantity and these are very unstable and too expensive. In addition, substrates for this enzymatic reaction are also very expensive and is difficult to be synthesized. Lipase has a broad substrate specificity and can be obtained in large quantity and cheap. The function of 1,3-specific lipase is similar to that of phospholipase A1, hence 1,3-specific lipase can be substituted for phospholipase A1. So, it was plausible to syn...