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New materials for bio-based hydrogen synthesis
http://aktuell.ruhr-uni-bochum.de/pm2013/pm00225.html.en[font face=Serif]No. 225 - Bochum, 12.08.2013
[font size=5]New materials for bio-based hydrogen synthesis
Synthetic biology enables spontaneous protein activation
“Nature Chemical Biology”: Design and production of hydrogenases simplified significantly[/font]
[font size=4]Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have discovered an efficient process for hydrogen biocatalysis. They developed semi-synthetic hydrogenases, hydrogen-generating enzymes, by adding the protein's biological precursor to a chemically synthesized inactive iron complex. From these two components, the biological catalyst formed spontaneously in a test tube. “Extracting hydrogenases from living cells is highly difficult,” says Prof Dr Thomas Happe, head of the work group Photobiotechnology at the RUB. “Therefore, their industrial application has always been a long way off. Now, we have made a decisive step towards the generation of bio-based materials.” Together with colleagues from the MPI Mülheim and from Grenoble, the RUB researchers report their findings in the journal “Nature Chemical Biology”.[/font]
[font size=3]…
Use of established commercial processes possible thanks to new method
“Mimics have made the process of working with hydrogenases much easier,” sums up Happe's PhD student Julian Esselborn. “Using the 'biotechnologist's pet' Escherichia coli, we are able to quickly produce several milligram of the hydrogenase's precursor. Subsequently, we add the chemical mimic and thereby create fully activated enzymes within a short period of time.” Industrial application is now within reach, because commercial processes for the cultivation of E. coli are already established. “The new method has the potential of becoming a milestone in hydrogenase research,” says Happe. It works with the hydrogenases of various organisms. “Moreover, it is suitable for high-throughput analysis of hydrogenase proteins that have been newly discovered or altered on the molecular biological level as well as of various – potentially optimised – chemical substances,” adds Julian Esselborn.
…[/font][/font]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.1311[font size=5]New materials for bio-based hydrogen synthesis
Synthetic biology enables spontaneous protein activation
“Nature Chemical Biology”: Design and production of hydrogenases simplified significantly[/font]
[font size=4]Researchers at the Ruhr-Universität Bochum (RUB) have discovered an efficient process for hydrogen biocatalysis. They developed semi-synthetic hydrogenases, hydrogen-generating enzymes, by adding the protein's biological precursor to a chemically synthesized inactive iron complex. From these two components, the biological catalyst formed spontaneously in a test tube. “Extracting hydrogenases from living cells is highly difficult,” says Prof Dr Thomas Happe, head of the work group Photobiotechnology at the RUB. “Therefore, their industrial application has always been a long way off. Now, we have made a decisive step towards the generation of bio-based materials.” Together with colleagues from the MPI Mülheim and from Grenoble, the RUB researchers report their findings in the journal “Nature Chemical Biology”.[/font]
[font size=3]…
Use of established commercial processes possible thanks to new method
“Mimics have made the process of working with hydrogenases much easier,” sums up Happe's PhD student Julian Esselborn. “Using the 'biotechnologist's pet' Escherichia coli, we are able to quickly produce several milligram of the hydrogenase's precursor. Subsequently, we add the chemical mimic and thereby create fully activated enzymes within a short period of time.” Industrial application is now within reach, because commercial processes for the cultivation of E. coli are already established. “The new method has the potential of becoming a milestone in hydrogenase research,” says Happe. It works with the hydrogenases of various organisms. “Moreover, it is suitable for high-throughput analysis of hydrogenase proteins that have been newly discovered or altered on the molecular biological level as well as of various – potentially optimised – chemical substances,” adds Julian Esselborn.
…[/font][/font]