Biocatalysis: Exploring and Designing Biocatalysts for Molecular Synthesis, and DNA/Protein Bio-Macromolecule Modifications

Dear Colleagues,

Biocatalysis carried out by protein catalyst (i.e., enzyme) has proven its great synthetic advantages of superb selectivity and mild processing conditions in the production of valuable chemicals and secondary metabolites as well as biologically significant macromolecules such as proteins with specific post-translational modifications and nucleic acids with specific epigenetic markers. To expand the biocatalytic scope of an arbitrary enzyme for desirable applications, enzymes often require engineering to achieve the application goals, where the engineering process could be conducted by rational design, directed evolution, or a combination of both. In addition, recent developments in biocatalysis have moved forward to implement protein scaffold design in order to explore new chemistry of catalysis on previously unachievable substrate targets. Engineered enzymes could be applied in in vitro molecular synthesis and in vivo production  via the implementation of metabolic engineering strategy. Furthermore, because enzymatic functional studies exploring the regulatory mechanisms they exert via protein post-transcriptional and post-translational modifications (PTMs) have advanced enormously, the biocatalytic modification of target proteins has become possible. Therefore, combining new enzyme chemistry in PTM enzyme and protein scaffolds, and tool development for site-specific drug loading onto therapeutic antibodies is worth exploring. Similarly, as nucleic acids have recently emerged as attractive reagents for potential therapeutic applications, biocatalytic process studies allowing the production of DNA or RNA uniformly with defined compositions and base modifications for better stability and efficacy are extremely valuable. In this Special Issue, we are seeking to explore the realm of studies at the intersection between novel enzyme design for new biocatalytic functions to process medically relevant small-molecule natural products, as well as proteins and nucleic acid macromolecules. We welcome reviews and original research articles that are related to new chemical reactions catalyzed by evolved enzymes that can catalyze chemical transformation or modification on small molecules, proteins, or nucleic acids.

Dr. Yane-Shih Wang
Dr. Rung-Yi Lai
Dr. Yan-Jiun Lee
Guest Editors

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