Engineering Enzyme Properties for Improved Biocatalytic Processes in Batch and Continuous Flow

Abstract

The widespread adoption of biocatalysis by industry to perform highly selective chemical syntheses has been made possible only by the development of highly effective methods in enzyme engineering to overcome the limitations of naturally occurring enzymes. Through these methods we can adapt a broad range of enzyme properties, including interactions between enzymes and their substrates and cofactors and robustness of enzymes toward the nonphysiological environments of industrial processes, and even introduce new to nature chemical reactivities. The trend toward increased reaction complexity through the deployment of multienzyme cascades has also encouraged the development of engineering methods and design principles to improve cascade performance and accelerate their development, including engineering of spatial and temporal compartmentalization of cascades via biocatalyst colocation and immobilization. As the trend toward building reaction complexity continues, it is becoming clear that reaction design and engineering can be accelerated by the adoption of integrated multiscale engineering methods that are built around the concepts of standardization, modularity, and abstraction.