Aspects of application of cytochrome P-450 and related systems in substrate hydroxylation

Extrapolating the recent progress in the near future the extensive utilization of cofactor-dependent enzymes (enzymes of the 3rd generation) for solving economic or medical problems will be restricted by the difficulties of cofactor regeneration. Real possibilities exist in analytical systems, for instance enzyme electrodes. In the present paper a special case of overcoming the cofactor regeneration in P-450 catalyzed substrate hydroxylation is demonstrated: The peroxide-dependent reaction gives the same products as obtained under physiological conditions; that is why in an electro-enzyme-reactor producing hydrogen peroxide by cathodic oxygen reduction a considerable simplification of the multi-enzyme complex is possible by omitting electron transfer proteins. At present the main problem is the instability of the terminal oxidase. Attempts are being made to solve these problems by immobilizing the protein or substituting P-450 by other hemoproteins or iron porphyrin derivatives.