title: Why are enzymes less active in organic solvents than in water?
abstract: In order to exploit fully the biotechnological opportunities afforded by nonaqueous enzymology, the issue of often drastically diminished enzymatic activity in organic solvents compared with that in water must be addressed and resolved. Recent studies have made great strides towards elucidating causes of this phenomenon of activity loss. None of these causes is insurmountable; by designing strategies that systematically target them, enzymatic activity in organic solvents can be readily enhanced by multiple orders of magnitude and ultimately brought to the aqueous-like level.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge 02139, USA. klibanov@mit.edu
authors.forename: A M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Klibanov
mesh_terms: D001696:Biomechanical Phenomena; D001709:Biotechnology; D004058:Diffusion; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D006863:Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; D018625:Microscopy, Atomic Force; D011487:Protein Conformation; D012997:Solvents; D013499:Surface Properties; D013816:Thermodynamics; D014867:Water
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes; D012997:Solvents; D014867:Water