Current developments and trends in nanobiocatalysis

Abstract

The field of nanobiocatalysis focuses on improving catalytic efficiency of biocatalysts or developing artificial enzymes using nanotechnology and nanomaterials, broadening their applications in an unfriendly environment, and in vitro and in vivo disease diagnosis and treatment. Nanobiocatalysis typically contains enzyme immobilization on nanocarriers and artificial enzymes based on nanomaterials (nanozymes). The latter is one of the representative interdisciplinary fields in nanobiology. On one hand, natural enzymes can be immobilized on nanocarriers to improve catalytic efficiency and stability. On the other hand, nanomaterials themselves may exhibit intrinsic enzyme-like properties which catalyze the biochemical reactions of the substrates of natural enzymes, providing a new generation of artificial enzymes. Nanobiocatalysis has been successfully explored, and has identified great potential in many important fields, including biomedicine, chemical industry, pharmacy, and environment engineering. In this review, we briefly summarize recent progress and developing trend for both enzyme immobilization on nanocarriers and nanozymes.