Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara (UCSB) and the University of Pittsburgh have come up with a radical new biocatalytic approach. This development has the potential to transform how drugs are discovered. This novel strategy makes use of enzymes – known as “nature’s privileged catalysts” – that enable the transformations to be efficient and selective, lead researcher Yang said. This time, the research crew has fused microbial enzyme processes with sunlight-harvesting catalysts. This customizable new process generates unique molecular architectures that conventional chemical and biological approaches would be unable to design.
The related research published this week in the journal Science describes an amazing new finding. Enzymes help catalyze a chain of diverse but well-coordinated chemical reactions, producing six distinct molecular products formed via carbon-carbon bond formation. These products display exquisite enzymatic control and result in complex rich stereochemistry, making them advantageous candidates for pharmaceutical development.
Collaborative Research Team
This groundbreaking work comes from a unique joint effort of many researchers. Yang, who directs UCSB’s Information and Control Technologies Lab, includes Chen Zhang, Jun Zhou, and Silvia M. Rivera. To do this, they collaborated with Pei-Pei Xie and Turki M. Alturaifi from the University of Pittsburgh. In addition, they worked with James Finnegan and Simon Charnock at Prozimix Ltd., in the UK. With expertise in enzymology, photocatalysis and molecular design, this diverse team works together to drive discovery. Together, they bravely push the envelope of what’s possible in molecular synthesis.
Harnessing their combined expertise, they achieved an enzymatic multicomponent reaction that generates six new molecular scaffolds with precisely controlled three-dimensional shapes. Specifically, these shapes can interact more optimally with biological targets, increasing the likely success of these molecules in drug discovery.
The Role of Enzymes and Photocatalysis
Yang stresses the critical role that enzymes play in this process. He beautifully illustrates how they work as initiators in an expanding explosive chain reaction of enzymatic catalysis. The photocatalytic reaction produces reactive species. These species then participate in further cycles, increasing overall efficiency and broadening the diversity of molecular products. This combination of enzyme soft touch and sunlight-harvesting catalyst hard punch greatly expands the range of molecular scaffolds available.
Many of the scaffolds generated by this approach would have been unachievable by standard chemical synthesis methods. Researchers in the pharmaceutical realm are now able to discover new compounds with promising therapeutic potential. This discovery lays a foundation for creating potent new drugs.
Implications for Drug Discovery
The implications of this research are profound. The potential to produce a library of novel molecules through biocatalytic approaches greatly improves the speed of drug discovery. Traditional methods take time consuming and cumbersome routes to create new substances. This novel approach quickened that process making it possible to quickly explore molecular diversity.
The resultant stereochemistry being well-defined adds to the suitability of these scaffolds as potential drug candidates with high efficacy. Our pharmaceutical researchers are hard at work to bring more targeted therapies to market. Their accuracy in directing even minuscule amounts of medicine can usher in new therapies for a wide range of ailments.