Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes

Enzymes from psychrophilic (cold-loving) organisms have attracted considerable interest over the past decades for their potential in various low-temperature industrial processes. However, we still lack large-scale commercialization of their activities. Here, we review their properties, limitations a...

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Main Authors: Jan Stanislaw Nowak, Daniel E. Otzen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2024-01-01
Series:BBA Advances
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667160323000339
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author Jan Stanislaw Nowak
Daniel E. Otzen
author_facet Jan Stanislaw Nowak
Daniel E. Otzen
author_sort Jan Stanislaw Nowak
collection DOAJ
description Enzymes from psychrophilic (cold-loving) organisms have attracted considerable interest over the past decades for their potential in various low-temperature industrial processes. However, we still lack large-scale commercialization of their activities. Here, we review their properties, limitations and potential. Our review is structured around answers to 5 central questions: 1. How do cold-active enzymes achieve high catalytic rates at low temperatures? 2. How is protein flexibility connected to cold-activity? 3. What are the sequence-based and structural determinants for cold-activity? 4. How does the thermodynamic stability of psychrophilic enzymes reflect their cold-active capabilities? 5. How do we effectively identify novel cold-active enzymes, and can we apply them in an industrial context? We conclude that emerging screening technologies combined with big-data handling and analysis make it reasonable to expect a bright future for our understanding and exploitation of cold-active enzymes.
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spelling doaj.art-d1f149f9fd174f839d44a5217386627a2023-12-10T06:18:54ZengElsevierBBA Advances2667-16032024-01-015100104Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymesJan Stanislaw Nowak0Daniel E. Otzen1Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, DK – 8000 Aarhus C, DenmarkCorresponding author.; Interdisciplinary Nanoscience Center (iNANO), Aarhus University, Gustav Wieds Vej 14, DK – 8000 Aarhus C, DenmarkEnzymes from psychrophilic (cold-loving) organisms have attracted considerable interest over the past decades for their potential in various low-temperature industrial processes. However, we still lack large-scale commercialization of their activities. Here, we review their properties, limitations and potential. Our review is structured around answers to 5 central questions: 1. How do cold-active enzymes achieve high catalytic rates at low temperatures? 2. How is protein flexibility connected to cold-activity? 3. What are the sequence-based and structural determinants for cold-activity? 4. How does the thermodynamic stability of psychrophilic enzymes reflect their cold-active capabilities? 5. How do we effectively identify novel cold-active enzymes, and can we apply them in an industrial context? We conclude that emerging screening technologies combined with big-data handling and analysis make it reasonable to expect a bright future for our understanding and exploitation of cold-active enzymes.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667160323000339PsychrophilicityEnzyme catalysisThermodynamic stabilityProtein dynamicsBioprospecting
spellingShingle Jan Stanislaw Nowak
Daniel E. Otzen
Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes
BBA Advances
Psychrophilicity
Enzyme catalysis
Thermodynamic stability
Protein dynamics
Bioprospecting
title Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes
title_full Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes
title_fullStr Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes
title_full_unstemmed Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes
title_short Helping proteins come in from the cold: 5 burning questions about cold-active enzymes
title_sort helping proteins come in from the cold 5 burning questions about cold active enzymes
topic Psychrophilicity
Enzyme catalysis
Thermodynamic stability
Protein dynamics
Bioprospecting
url http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2667160323000339
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