Dendrimers as artificial enzymes

Dendrimers are regular tree-like macromolecules accessible by chemical synthesis from a variety of building blocks. Their topology enforces a globular shape that offers a unique opportunity to design artificial enzymes. Catalytic groups such as metal complexes and cofactors can be placed at the dend...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inCurrent opinion in chemical biology Vol. 9; no. 6; pp. 656 - 664
Main Authors Kofoed, Jacob, Reymond, Jean-Louis
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published England Elsevier Ltd 01.12.2005
Subjects
Catalysis
Catalytic Domain
Dendrimers - chemistry
Enzymes - chemistry
Mutation - genetics
Peptide Library
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Summary:Dendrimers are regular tree-like macromolecules accessible by chemical synthesis from a variety of building blocks. Their topology enforces a globular shape that offers a unique opportunity to design artificial enzymes. Catalytic groups such as metal complexes and cofactors can be placed at the dendrimer core to exploit microenvironment and selectivity effects of the dendritic shell. In a second approach, attaching catalytic groups in multiple copies at the end of the dendritic branches may lead to cooperativity effects. Finally, exploration of dendritic structural space by screening combinatorial libraries of peptide dendrimers for catalytic activity can lead to discovery of functional dendrimers with enzyme-like properties, in a process mimicking natural selection.
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ISSN:1367-5931
1879-0402
DOI:10.1016/j.cbpa.2005.10.013