Turning bacterial cyclopropane synthase enzymes into biocatalysts for the green and sustainable manufacturing of chemicals and drugs

2018年诺贝尔化学奖被授予绿色化学家，这证实了科学界朝着开发可持续生产药品、农用化学品和其他化学品的过程的重要性和紧迫性。本项目旨在研究独特的细菌酶，环丙烷脂肪酸合成酶（CFAS），负责细菌中霉菌酸的合成。一系列CFAS酶将被克隆、表达、纯化，并最终转化为生物催化剂，用于可持续生产药物和化学品。该项目将结合分子生物学、分析和化学方法，为具有挑战性的环丙烷生物转化开发新的生物催化剂。

The Nobel Prize 2018 in chemistry has been awarded to green chemists confirming the importance and urgency for the scientific community to move towards the development of sustainable processes for producing pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, and other chemicals. This project aims to study unique bacterial enzymes, the cyclopropane fatty acid synthases (CFAS), responsible for the synthesis of mycolic acid in bacteria. A series of CFAS enzymes will be cloned, expressed, purified and eventually turned into biocatalysts for the sustainable manufacturing of drugs and chemicals. This project will develop new biocatalysts for challenging cyclopropanation biotransformations combining molecular biology, analytical and chemical approaches.