Coming upMon 9 Nov 2026,
Engineering MDR-based artificial enzymes
Natural proteins redesigned into artificial catalysts, and how they can trigger chemical reactions not found in nature.
The defense
From the University of Groningen agenda
- When
- Mon 9 Nov 2026, 90 min
- Where
- University of Groningen, NetherlandsScience and Engineering
- Supervisors
- Language
- English
- Stream
- on university player
Stream link
A doctoral defense is public: anyone may watch.
About the thesis
Natural enzymes are sustainable catalysts, but their limited reaction range restricts their use. This thesis explores artificial enzymes designed for non-natural, synthetically valuable transformations. Multidrug resistance regulators served as scaffolds, modified by stop codon suppression to incorporate unnatural amino acids with synthetic catalytic groups. The resulting enzymes were evaluated for activity, selectivity, and evolvability. In particular, LmrR containing para-aminophenylalanine (LmrR_pAF) enabled intramolecular Friedel–Crafts alkylation to synthesize tetrahydrocarbazoles, with an unstable aldehyde intermediate generated in situ via a one-pot cascade with the natural oxidase HMFO.
Read the thesisUniversity announcement
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Listed from the University of Groningen agenda.