Photoswitchable biocatalyst

Willner I, Blonder R, Katz E. Reconstitution of apo-glucose oxidase with a nitrospiro-pyran-modified FAD cofactor yields a photoswitchable biocatalysts for amperometric transduction of recorded optical signals. J Am Chem Soc 1996 118 5310-11. 

Redox enzymes are the active component in many electrochemical enzyme electrode biosensor devices.1821 The integration of two different redox enzymes with an electrode support, in which one of the biocatalysts is photoswitchable between ON and OFF states, can establish a composite multisensor array. The biomaterial interface that includes the photoswitchable enzyme in the OFF state electrochemi-cally transduces the sensing event of the substrate corresponding to the nonphoto-switchable enzyme. Photochemical activation of the light-active enzyme leads to the full electrochemical response, corresponding to the analysis of the substrates of the two enzymes. As a result, the processing of the signals transduced by the composite biomaterial interface in the presence of the two substrates permits the assay of the... 

Photoswitchable enzymes could have an important role in controlling biochemical transformations in bioreactors. Various biotechnological processes generate an inhibitor, or alter the environmental conditions (pH, for example) of the reaction medium. Photochemical activation of enzymes that adjust environmental conditions or deplete the inhibitor to a low concentration may maintain the bioreactor at optimal performance. More specifically, integration of the photoswitchable biocataly-tic matrix with a sensory electrode might yield a feedback mechanism in which the sensor element triggers the light-induced activation/deactivation of the photosensitive biocatalyst. 

It also was found that the direction of the photobiocatalytic switch of the nitrospiropyran-FAD-reconstituted enzyme is controlled by the electrical properties of the electron transfer mediator. With ferrocene dicarboxylic acid as a diffusional electron transfer mediator, the enzyme in the nitrospiropyran-FAD state (10a) was found to correspond to the OFF state biocatalyst, while the protonated nitromerocyanine state of the enzyme (10b) exhibits ON behavior. In the presence of the protonated l-[l-(dimethyl-amino)ethyl]ferrocene, the direction of the photobioelectrocatalytic switch is reversed. The nitrospiropyran-enzyme state (10a) is activated toward the electrocatalyzed oxidation of glucose, while the protonated nitromerocyanine enzyme state (10b) is switched OFF, and is inactive for the electrochemical oxidation of glucose. This control of the photoswitch direction of the photoisomerizable reconstituted enzyme was attributed to electrostatic interactions between the diffusional electron mediator and the photoisomerizable unit... 

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