A new H2020 funded project TOPCAPI, involving 8 academic and industry partners from 4 different countries (led by Prof. Takano) will exploit the natural fabrication power of actinomycetes as microbial cell factories to produce high-value pharmaceutical ingredients, in particular the starter compound for the semi-synthesis of a new topical anti-acne drug currently in Phase II clinical trials, and intermediates for the semi-synthetic production of medically important type II polyketide tetracyclines to be used against methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus infections (MRSA). TOPCAPI will focus on the engineering of two bacterial host species: Streptomyces coelicolor and Streptomyces rimosus. These host species will be characterized using systems biology approaches, applying integrated data analysis to transcriptomics and metabolomics experiments, combined with predictive mathematical modelling to drive the rapid improvement of these microbial cell factories for industrial drug production using advanced metabolic and biosynthetic engineering approaches. At the same time, the project will establish an expanded toolbox for the engineering of actinomycete bacteria as production chassis for other high added value compounds.
SYNBIOCHEM – Manchester Synthetic Biology Research Centre for Fine and Speciality Chemicals
