04/2014 ChemCatChem is an international journal covering all fields of catalysis. It is co-owned by 16 European Chemical Societies forming together the Chemistry Publishing Society Europe (ChemPubSoc Europe), supported by the German Catalysis Society (GeCatS), and published by Wiley-VCH. Publications in ChemCatChem cover research into nanocatalysis, biocatalysis, heterogeneous catalysis, and homogeneous catalysis, as well as that at the interfaces of all three areas. ChemCatChem publishes Communications and Full Papers, Reviews and Minireviews, Highlights, Concepts, Essays, Book Reviews, and Conference Reports. Authors can submit articles to ChemCatChem online. Just go to our homepage (http://www.chemcatchem.org), click on “Submit an Article”, and follow the instructions.
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CHEMCATCHEM EDITORIAL DOI: 10.1002/cctc.201400104
The Enzyme Spring: Biocatalysis at its Best Nicholas J. Turner*[a] and Andy Wells*[b]
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his Special Issue of ChemCatChem is devoted to the rapidly growing and developing field of biocatalysis. The aim was to bring together publications from a broad range of research groups spanning academe and industry to focus on the current themes and scientific advances in this field. The constellation of contributions (8 Communications, 16 Full Papers, 1 Concept, 2 Minireviews, 1 Essay and 3 Highlights) exposes the reader to not only the latest results emerging from different laboratories but also commentaries and opinions from some of the leading experts in biocatalysis. All together, these articles provide a superb snapshot of some of the “hot topics” in biocatalysis, indicating where the field as a whole is moving and the current and immediate challenges that need to be solved. 2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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ot topics include the following themes: protein engineering and directed evolution of enzymes, in silico design, enzyme immobilisation, multi-enzyme cascades, applications in asymmetric synthesis, high-throughput screening, enzyme promiscuity and use of non-aqueous systems. Interestingly, several of these themes are interlinked, requiring collaboration between two or more different groups to solve increasingly difficult problems, for example: 1) The in silico design of novel biocatalysts, including synthetic enzymes, is beginning to emerge as a powerful new strategy for creating enzymes with new functions based upon existing protein scaffolds. However, the first-generation “designed” enzymes generally possess low activity, which then requires amplification by successive rounds of random/targeted mutagenesis and screening to evolve biocatalysts with much higher levels of catalytic activity. 2) Directed evolution of biocatalysts is used as a general and powerful tool for fine tuning other biocatalytic parameters ChemCatChem 2014, 6, 900 – 901
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CHEMCATCHEM EDITORIAL
www.chemcatchem.org
Nick Turner obtained his DPhil in 1985 with Professor Sir Jack Baldwin and from 1985 to 1987 was a Royal Society Junior Research Fellow, spending time at Harvard University with Professor George Whitesides. He was appointed lecturer in 1987 at the University of Exeter and moved to Edinburgh in 1995, initially as a Reader and subsequently as a Professor in 1998. In October 2004, he joined The University of Manchester as Professor of Chemical Biology, where his research group is located in the Manchester Institute of Biotechnology Biocentre. He is Director of the Centre of Excellence in Biocatalysis (CoEBio3) and also a co-founder and Scientific Director of Ingenza, a spin-out biocatalysis company based in Edinburgh and, more recently, Discovery Biocatalysts. His research interests are in the area of biocatalysis with particular emphasis on the discovery and development of novel enzyme-catalysed reactions for applications in organic synthesis. His group are also interested in the application of directed evolution technologies for the development of biocatalysts with tailored functions.
Andy Wells is an internationally recognised expert in the field of chemical process R&D in which, over the past 30 years, he has spent most of his professional career employed at three multi-national pharmaceutical companies (SmithKline & French Laboratories, SmithKline Beecham and AstraZeneca) and now works as an independent consultant in sustainable chemical manufacturing. He has experience across all aspects of the pharmaceutical R&D lifecycle, especially synthesis and material supply at all stages from discovery chemistry through to validation and lifecycle management. A major focus over the past 25 years has been the application of homo- and heterogeneous metal catalysis, biotransformations and biotechnology, and green chemistry solutions in the tactical and strategic manufacture of pharmaceuticals and fine chemicals. His career has spanned a broad range of scientific disciplines and he is a keen exponent of working at the interface of the physical and biological sciences to champion the adoption of novel, more sustainable technologies across a range of business areas.
including substrate specificity, enantioselectivity, stability under process conditions and tolerance to organic solvents. 3) Protein engineering can be used to enhance promiscuous enzyme activities and to probe relationships between sequence and function.
bility of sequence data emerging from annotated genomes, which provide a rich and sometimes overwhelming source of new genes and hence proteins. Coupled with the ready access to synthetic genes, the upshot is to provide those working in the field of biocatalysis with a vast playground of novel biocatalysts that can be screened for new activity and also provide starting points for further engineering and evolution.
Another prominent theme in biocatalysis, which is well covered in this Special Issue, is the development of multi-enzyme cascade reactions designed to convert simple starting materials into higher value and more complex products. Such cascade reactions can be carried out in vitro by combining different biocatalysts in a single reaction, or by multiple expression of several genes in a host cell to generate an engineered microbial cell factory. Both approaches require an understanding of how different enzymes catalyse their respective reactions in tandem, including cofactor recycling systems, and again may require input from protein engineering to optimise and/or stabilise enzyme activity.
Underpinning
much of the work currently underway in a number of groups around the world is the increased availa-
[a] Prof. Dr. N. J. Turner School of Chemistry, University of Manchester Manchester Institute of Biotechnology 131 Princess Street, Manchester, M1 7DN (UK) E-mail:
[email protected] Homepage: http://www.coebio3.manchester.ac.uk/
2014 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim
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he combined power of the different approaches and strategies discussed in this Special Issue are beginning to become apparent and are impacting the way in which the chemical and pharmaceutical products of the future will be manufactured. We hope you enjoy reading the papers and, like us, feel that this is an exciting time to be part of the biocatalytic revolution. Nick Turner & Andy Wells Guest Editors
[b] Prof. Dr. A. Wells Charnwood Technical Consulting Ltd. Parklands, Northage Close, Quorn LE12 8AT (UK) E-mail:
[email protected]
ChemCatChem 2014, 6, 900 – 901
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