Efficient Biosynthesis of Monacolin J through Enzymatic Hydrolysis Using a Recombinant Lovastatin Hydrolase

Simvastatin is a widely used statin medication that is commonly prescribed to lower cholesterol levels and reduce the risk of cardiovascular events. It is marketed under the brand name Zocor and is known for its effectiveness in treating high cholesterol and managing cardiovascular disease. Monacolin J is an important precursor used to synthesize simvastatin and is mainly produced by chemical methods in industry. Here, monacolin J was synthesized through an enzymatic method under optimized reaction conditions. One recombinant Escherichia coli BL21 (DE3) strain containing lovastatin hydrolase (encoded by CDV55_102090) from Aspergillus turcosus was constructed, which effectively transformed 100 g/L of lovastatin to monacolin J within 3.5 h at pH 8.0 and 30 °C, with a conversion rate of >99.8%. Furthermore, the T5010, the temperature at which the residual activity was half of the initial enzymatic activity after 10 min of heat treatment, was >50 °C, indicating the tremendous potential of this bioprocess for synthesizing monacolin J at an industrial scale.