Electron-Transferring Metalloenzymes and their Potential Biotechnological Applications.
Chimia (Aarau)
; 78(1-2): 13-21, 2024 Feb 28.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-38430059
ABSTRACT
Modern societies rely heavily on centralized industrial processes to generate a multitude of products ranging from electrical energy to synthetic chemical building blocks to construction materials. To date, these processes have relied extensively on energy produced from fossil fuels, which has led to dramatically increased quantities of greenhouse gases (including carbon dioxide) being released into the atmosphere; the effects of the ensuing change to our climate are easily observed in day-to-day life. Some of the reactions catalyzed by these industrial processes can be catalyzed in nature by metal-containing enzymes (metalloenzymes) that have evolved over the course of up to 3.8 billion years to do so under mild physiological conditions using Earth-abundant metals. While such metalloenzymes could in principle facilitate the implementation of carbon-neutral processes around the globe, either in "bio-inspired" catalyst design or even by direct exploitation, many remaining questions surrounding their mechanisms often preclude both options. Here, our recent efforts in understanding and applying metalloenzymes that catalyze reactions such as dinitrogen reduction to ammonia or proton reduction to molecular hydrogen are discussed. In closing, an opinion on the question "Can these types of enzymes really be used in new biotechnologies?" is offered.
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Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Elétrons
/
Metaloproteínas
Idioma:
En
Revista:
Chimia (Aarau)
Ano de publicação:
2024
Tipo de documento:
Article