Increasing importance of protein flexibility in designing biocatalytic processes

Enzymes require some flexibility for catalysis. Biotechnologists prefer stable enzymes but often this stabilization comes at the cost of reduced efficiency. Enzymes from thermophiles have low flexibility but poor catalytic rates. Enzymes from psychrophiles are less stable but show good catalytic rat...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Joyeeta Mukherjee, Munishwar Nath Gupta
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2015-06-01
Series:Biotechnology Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2215017X1500020X
Description
Summary:Enzymes require some flexibility for catalysis. Biotechnologists prefer stable enzymes but often this stabilization comes at the cost of reduced efficiency. Enzymes from thermophiles have low flexibility but poor catalytic rates. Enzymes from psychrophiles are less stable but show good catalytic rates at low temperature. In organic solvents enzymes perform poorly as the prior drying makes the enzyme molecules very rigid. Adding water or increasing reaction temperature improves flexibility and catalytic rates. In case of hydrolases, flexibility and enantioselectivity have interdependence. Understanding the complex role of protein flexibility in biocatalysis can help in designing biotechnological processes.
ISSN:2215-017X