Systems biocatalysis: An artificial metabolism for interconversion of functional groups

An in vitro artificial cycle interconverting chemical functional groups through a series of six enzyme-catalyzed reactions was set up. The addition of any of the substrates established a steady state in which concentrations of all the four components remained unchanged, and transformation of any component into another is possible by breaking the cycle omitting one (or more) of the enzymatic activities. We believe that this example of an artificial metabolism may constitute a novel approach toward the synthesis of useful products by modern applied biocatalysis. Such an in vitro strategy circumvents the presence of deviating/competing metabolic pathways as well as the issues related to enzymes inhibition or regulation as observed at the cellular level.