Alkane activation by P450 oxygenases

Abstract

The hydroxylation of alkane molecules, especially at terminal positions, is a challenging reaction. Enzymes that catalyze this reaction could be used to produce high-value compounds from aliphatic and alkyl-substituted substrates. However, until a few years ago, all known alkane hydroxylating enzymes were membrane-bound, and difficult to use. Recently, three bacterial P450 enzymes of the (soluble) CYP101 and CYP102 families were engineered to hydroxylate alkanes, but even after extensive efforts hydroxylation was mainly at sub-terminal positions. More recently, a new soluble P450 family (CYP153) was identified and characterized, which activates the terminal position of alkanes and alkyl-substituted compounds with very high regio-selectivity. The use of CYP153s in biotechnological applications is now being explored.

• P450
• CYP153
• biotransformation
• protein engineering
• terminal hydroxylation