Biocatalyst Engineering for Maximum Activity in Nonaqueous Media

这项研究的总体目标是实现数千倍的速率增强，并阐明激活过程的潜在机制。因此，这项研究将为有机溶剂中控制酶活性的因素提供新的见解，并将使酶在工业过程中发挥更大的作用，包括化学品和药物合成、聚合物合成、药物发现和废物处理，以及其他新兴的生物催化应用。此外，在有机溶剂中改善酶功能的相同技术可能用于脱水蛋白质系统的稳定，这是生物治疗蛋白质配方和递送的关键问题。因此，这项工作具有广泛的影响，从生物催化到药物发现再到生物制药配方。

The overall goals of this research are to achieve rate enhancements of several thousand fold, and to elucidate the underlying mechanism(s) for the activation process. This research will therefore provide new insights into the factors that govern enzyme activity in organic solvents, and will enable enzymes to play an expanded role in industrial processes, including chemicals and pharmaceuticals synthesis, polymer synthesis, drug discovery, and waste treatment, among other emerging applications of biocatalysis. Moreover, the same techniques that lead to improved enzyme function in organic solvents are likely to be of use in the stabilization of dehydrated protein systems, which is a critical issue in biotherapeutic protein formulation and delivery. Thus, this work has broad impact, ranging from biocatalysis to drug discovery to biopharmaceutical formulations.