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A Customizable Approach for the Enzymatic Production and Purification of Diterpenoid Natural Products

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Synthetic Multienzyme Assemblies for Natural Product Biosynthesis.

Min Liu¹, Yue Wang¹, Hao Jiang¹

¹Department of Chemistry and, Center for Cell & Developmental Biology, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shatin, Hong Kong SAR, China.

Chembiochem : a European Journal of Chemical Biology

|January 10, 2023

Summary

Synthetic metabolons, or enzyme complexes, enhance chemical production in microbes by improving reaction efficiency and product yield. These "synthetic organelles" offer potential for industrial applications, though further development is needed.

Keywords:

biosynthesis enzyme compartmentalization multienzyme assembly terpenes

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Area of Science:

Synthetic biology
Metabolic engineering
Biotechnology

Background:

Nature utilizes multienzyme complexes (metabolons) to enhance catalytic efficiency and metabolic flux.
Synthetic metabolons are engineered to improve the synthesis of valuable chemicals within microbial hosts.
Existing strategies include static nanostructures and dynamic coacervates.

Purpose of the Study:

To review the construction and function of synthetic multienzyme complexes within microbial cells.
To highlight strategies for optimizing enzyme proximity and metabolic flux.
To discuss the potential and limitations of synthetic metabolons for industrial applications.

Main Methods:

Review of literature on synthetic multienzyme complex construction and characterization.
Analysis of strategies for enhancing catalytic rates and product titers in microbes.
Discussion of enzyme complexation for improved metabolic pathways.

Main Results:

Synthetic multienzyme complexes improve metabolic flux, increase product yield, and create high-titer microbial strains.
These complexes can function as independent "synthetic organelles" for in vitro biocatalysis.
Current challenges include balancing dynamicity, confinement, and cellular compartmentalization.

Conclusions:

Synthetic multienzyme complexes show promise for enhancing microbial chemical synthesis.
Further research is needed to achieve finer control over compartmentalization and enable industrial-scale applications.
The development of synthetic metabolons represents a significant advancement in metabolic engineering.