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Updated: Jun 25, 2026

A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products
Published on: October 4, 2019
Opportunities for enzyme engineering in natural product biosynthesis
Peter Bernhardt1, Sarah E O'Connor
1Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Department of Chemistry, Cambridge, 02139, USA.
Exploring natural product biosynthesis pathways through enzyme engineering enables rapid structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies. This approach harnesses biocatalysts for novel pharmaceutical development and industrial biotransformations.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Natural Products Chemistry
- Biotechnology
Background:
- Organisms produce diverse natural products with significant biological activities.
- Developing natural products into pharmaceuticals is hindered by slow and costly structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore enzyme engineering for metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways.
- To create novel natural products for efficient SAR studies.
- To harness natural product biosynthetic enzymes as biocatalysts for industrial applications.
Main Methods:
- Enzyme engineering strategies.
- Metabolic engineering of biosynthetic pathways.
- Exploration of natural product metabolism.
Main Results:
- Development of new 'natural' products for SAR studies.
- Identification of natural product biosynthetic enzymes as potential biocatalysts.
Conclusions:
- Enzyme engineering offers a viable strategy to overcome limitations in SAR studies.
- Natural product biosynthetic enzymes are a valuable, untapped resource for biocatalysis in industrial biotransformations.
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