Enzyme studies for biocatalysis and other applications

酶对我们小组非常感兴趣，不仅因为它们与疾病有关，而且还因为它们无与伦比的催化性能。事实上，在温和的条件下，酶在广泛的反应中往往是对映体、化学和区域选择性的。然而，我们对这些优秀催化剂的理解仅仅是表面上的。例如，变构和协作性在生物系统中扮演着重要角色，但对它们的定义并不明确。我们建议在这里研究不同的酶，并利用它们对生物催化和其他应用的催化能力。有兴趣的酶来自两类：1)一些表现出新的变构行为的乙酰基转移酶、磷酸基转移酶和腺基转移酶；2)P450酶，它们表现出复杂的合作行为，并在失活的C-H键上催化困难的氧化反应。

Enzymes are of great interest to our group, not only for their involvement in diseases but also for their unequalled catalytic properties. Indeed enzymes are often enantio-, chemo-, and regio-selective across a wide range of reactions under mild conditions. Yet our understanding of these superior catalysts is only superficial. For example, allostery and cooperativity, which play important roles in biological systems, are only poorly defined. We propose here to study different enzymes, and harness their catalytic abilities for biocatalyis and other applications. The enzymes of interest are from two groups: 1) some acetyltransferases, phosphoryltransferases and adenylyltransferases which show novel allosteric behavior; and 2) P450 enzymes which show complex cooperative behavior and catalyze difficult oxidation reactions at inactivated C-H bonds.