Biocatalysis and Enzyme Engineering: Advancing Green Chemistry Through Enhanced Enzyme Stability

In this Webinar, You Will Learn:

• Enzymes are valuable industrial catalysts for green chemistry applications.
• The operational stability of enzymes can be engineered and enhanced.
• Light-sensitive cofactors, such as pyridoxal 5′ - phosphate (PLP), play a crucial role in maintaining enzyme stability.

About this Webinar:

Biocatalysis is a green technology that promotes sustainable development. However, a major limitation in the industrial application of enzymes is often their insufficient stability under operational conditions. High operational stability and performance are essential for the successful implementation of enzymes in industrial processes, and we believe that understanding and improving enzyme stability are key to unlocking their full potential.^[1]

ATAs are pyridoxal 5′-phosphate (PLP) - dependent enzymes that catalyze the highly stereoselective transfer of an amino group from an amino donor to a carbonyl compound under mild reaction conditions.^[2] These enzymes are widely used for both asymmetric amination reactions and the kinetic resolution of chiral amines.^[2,3]

Prof. Per Berglund and his team have characterized several (S) - selective ATAs with respect to their thermodynamic and operational stability and proposed a mechanistic explanation for their reduced operational stability.^[4] Their complementary strategies for investigating and improving ATA stability include studies of both cofactor stability and function^[5] and the thermodynamic and kinetic stability of the protein itself.^[6]

Prof. Per Berglund will discuss the effects of light-induced cofactor degradation on enzyme stability, as well as his integrated protein engineering approach, which combines consensus sequence analysis, ancestral sequence reconstruction, and B-factor-guided proline engineering to enhance enzyme robustness and performance.

About Prof. Per Berglund:

Per Berglund is Full Professor of Biochemistry at KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden. He has had a long research career in biocatalysis and enzyme engineering. He serves on the board of the European Society of Applied Biocatalysis and is an elected member of their scientific committee. Apart from research, he is the Director of the Master’s programme in Industrial & Environmental Biotechnology, Deputy Head of Department of Industrial Biotechnology and the Academic Liaison for the strategic university partnership between KTH and Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Per Berglund completed his PhD in Organic Chemistry in 1995, undertook postdoctoral research at the University of Toronto, and began his academic career at KTH in 1997. He served as the Deputy Dean of KTH with responsibility for education on the first, second and third cycles from 2010 to 2019. Per Berglund's research addresses major global challenges to ultimately achieve a better and more sustainable future for all. His research field, biocatalysis, can contribute to achieving several of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals. For this, Prof. Berglund and his team are using tools and principles from nature to provide bio-based environmentally smart production systems. His research involves the engineering of enzymes and processes for sustainable synthesis of high-value chemical products. In the research labs, enzymology, protein engineering, in silico molecular modelling and green organic chemistry are combined to tailor enzymes for industrial conditions.

Learn More About Prof. Per Berglund and His Research:
www.kth.se/profile/perbe

Selected Publications: