Document Type

Article

Publication Date

9-13-2023

Department

Department of Chemistry

Abstract

Enzymes are versatile and efficient biological catalysts that drive numerous cellular processes, motivating the development of enzyme design approaches to tailor catalysts for diverse applications. In this perspective, we investigate the unique properties of natural, evolved, and designed enzymes, recognizing their strengths and shortcomings. We highlight the challenges and limitations of current enzyme design protocols, with a particular focus on their limited consideration of long-range electrostatic and dynamic effects. We then delve deeper into the impact of the protein environment on enzyme catalysis and explore the roles of preorganized electric fields, second coordination sphere interactions, and protein dynamics for enzyme function. Furthermore, we present several case studies illustrating successful enzyme-design efforts incorporating enzyme strategies mentioned above to achieve improved catalytic properties. Finally, we envision the future of enzyme design research, spotlighting the challenges yet to be overcome and the synergy of intrinsic electric fields, second coordination sphere interactions, and conformational dynamics to push the state-of-the-art boundaries.

Publisher's Statement

© 2023 The Author(s). Published by the Royal Society of Chemistry. Publisher’s version of record: https://doi.org/10.1039/d3sc02982d

Publication Title

Chemical Science

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License

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Publisher's PDF

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