Innovations in Enzyme Technology: Applications in Industry and Medicine
Abstract
Enzymes are biological catalysts that perform specific functions, such as food digestion and synthesis of biomolecules. They have diverse applications in industrial and medical arenas. Many biomolecules can now be synthesized from simple precursors using properly engineered biocatalysts. Since the commercialization of the protease, trypsin, over a hundred years ago, advances in biocatalyst development have accelerated, allowing previously expensive and infeasible biomolecule syntheses to be carried out on increasingly larger scales. The most active research area in enzyme technology is that of enzyme immobilization. The immobilization of enzymes on solid supports, nanoparticles, or within ceramics, fibers, and polymers can improve enzyme stability, target enzymes to specific sites in the body, and reduce enzyme concentrations. This essay attempts to survey the many areas of enzyme technology that have progressed in an incomplete and piecemeal fashion over the past three decades.
The rapid expansion of enzyme applications arose from our increased understanding of enzyme structure and function. New technologies introduced in this mid-20th century age of molecular biology made this possible. The exponential increase in our understanding of enzyme structure and function can be shown by the fact that the number of protein-related entries in the public protein databases doubles in number about every 10 years. In 1976, there were only two protein structures solved; in 1986, 89; in 2000, several thousand; in 2007, about 20,000 were known; and in 2012, the PDB had approximately 83,000 protein structures, including those of over 7,500 unique protein sequences. The origin of such an increased number of protein structures is directly linked with technological developments in X-ray crystallography, multidimensional nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, infrared absorption, and imaging techniques, together with early quantum mechanics and quantum chemistry.
References
B. Hauer, "Embracing nature's catalysts: a viewpoint on the future of biocatalysis," Acs Catalysis, 2020. acs.org
R. M. Bullock, J. G. Chen, L. Gagliardi, P. J. Chirik, and O. K. Farha, "Using nature's blueprint to expand catalysis with Earth-abundant metals," *Science*, 2020. nih.gov
J. Planas-Iglesias, S. M. Marques, G. P. Pinto, M. Musil, "Computational design of enzymes for biotechnological applications," Biotechnology, Elsevier, 2021. muni.cz
I. V. da Silva Amatto, "Enzyme engineering and its industrial applications," Biotechnology and ..., 2022. [HTML]
S. Tandon, A. Sharma, S. Singh, and S. Sharma, "Therapeutic enzymes: discoveries, production and applications," *Journal of Drug Delivery*, 2021. [HTML]
V. L. Arcus and A. J. Mulholland, "Temperature, dynamics, and enzyme-catalyzed reaction rates," Annual review of biophysics, 2020. archive.org
K. B. Muchowska, S. J. Varma, and J. Moran, "Nonenzymatic metabolic reactions and life's origins," Chemical Reviews, 2020. hal.science
P. Intasian, K. Prakinee, A. Phintha, and D. Trisrivirat, "Enzymes, In Vivo Biocatalysis, and Metabolic Engineering for Enabling a Circular Economy and Sustainability," Chemical, 2021. acs.org
T. Dinmukhamed, Z. Huang, Y. Liu, X. Lv, and J. Li, "Current advances in design and engineering strategies of industrial enzymes," Systems Microbiology, Springer, 2021. [HTML]
A. R. Alcántara, P. Domínguez de María, "Biocatalysis as key to sustainable industrial chemistry," Wiley Online Library, 2022. exeter.ac.uk
A. Madhavan, K. B. Arun, P. Binod, and R. Sirohi, "Design of novel enzyme biocatalysts for industrial bioprocess: Harnessing the power of protein engineering, high throughput screening and synthetic biology," Bioresource, 2021. [HTML]
C. Ottone, O. Romero, and C. Aburto, "Biocatalysis in the winemaking industry: Challenges and opportunities for immobilized enzymes," … reviews in food …, 2020. academia.edu
A. N. M. Ramli, P. K. Hong, and N. H. A. Manas, "An overview of enzyme technology used in food industry," in *… enzyme technology*, Elsevier, 2022. [HTML]
A. Currin, S. Parker, C. J. Robinson, and E. Takano, "The evolving art of creating genetic diversity: From directed evolution to synthetic biology," Biotechnology, 2021. sciencedirect.com
Y. Wang, P. Xue, M. Cao, T. Yu, and S. T. Lane, "Directed evolution: methodologies and applications," *Chemical Reviews*, 2021. google.com
R. A. Sheldon and D. Brady, "Streamlining design, engineering, and applications of enzymes for sustainable biocatalysis," ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering, 2021. [HTML]
A. Fasim, V. S. More, and S. S. More, "Large-scale production of enzymes for biotechnology uses," Current opinion in biotechnology, 2021. [HTML]
R. Parini and F. Deodato, "Intravenous enzyme replacement therapy in mucopolysaccharidoses: clinical effectiveness and limitations," International Journal of Molecular Sciences, 2020. mdpi.com
G. K. Meghwanshi, N. Kaur, and S. Verma, "Enzymes for pharmaceutical and therapeutic applications," … and applied …, 2020. wiley.com
M. Marchetti, S. Faggiano, "Enzyme replacement therapy for genetic disorders associated with enzyme deficiency," Current Medicinal, 2022. [HTML]
E. I. Katsigianni and P. Petrou, "A systematic review of the economic evaluations of Enzyme Replacement Therapy in Lysosomal Storage Diseases," Cost Effectiveness and Resource Allocation, 2022. springer.com
A. Del Grosso, G. Parlanti, R. Mezzena, "Current treatment options and novel nanotechnology-driven enzyme replacement strategies for lysosomal storage disorders," Advanced Drug Delivery, 2022. [HTML]
