Team:Northwestern/Project/Chitin Synthesis

Chitin is an abundant biopolymer found primarily in the exoskeletons of arthropods, including many insects and crustaceans. Composed of N-acetylglucosamine monomers (Figure 1), it functions analogously to keratin in mammalian skin, providing a support matrix for the protective outer surface of these animals. Similarly, most fungi produce chitin in their cell walls for structural support and chitin production depends on a series of enzymatic steps, shown below (Figure 2).

Figure 1 Chitin molecular structure.
Source: [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chitin Wikipedia - Chitin]

SIGNIFICANCE OF CHITIN:

Medicinal Use:

• Wound and burn treatment/healing
• Hemostasis for orthopedic treatment of broken bones
• Viscoelastic solutions for ophthamology and orthopedic surgery
• Abdominal adhesion treatment
• Antibacterial and antifungal agents
• Tumor therapies
• Microsurgery and neurosurgery
• Treatment of chronic wounds, ulcers and bleeding (chitin powder)

Industrial Use:

• Food/Pharmaceutical/Agricultural/Cosmetic thickener, stabilizer
• Agricultural protection
• Water resistant properties
• Dietary supplement
• Water purification
• Biodegradable
• Edible microcrystalline films used to preserve food
• Sequestering of particles (i.e. oil)

Chitin Synthase 3 (CHS3) was cloned out of Saccharomyces Cerevisiae (S.C.) cDNA.

CHS3 from S.C. was chosen because the the protein does not require cofactors or activation factors and also because it was determined to be the most active of the Chitin Synthase family.

Chitin Synthase polymerizes N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine, also known as Chitin, with substrate as UDP-N-Acetyl-D-Glucosamine.