Spectroscopic and computational characterization of laccases and their substrate radical intermediates

Cell Mol Life Sci. 2015 Mar;72(5):885-96. doi: 10.1007/s00018-014-1825-7. Epub 2015 Jan 17.

Abstract

Laccases are multicopper oxidases which oxidize a wide variety of aromatic compounds with the concomitant reduction of oxygen to water as by-product. Due to their high stability and biochemical versatility, laccases are key enzymes to be used as eco-friendly biocatalyst in biotechnological applications. The presence of copper paramagnetic species in the catalytic site paired with the substrate radical species produced in the catalytic cycle makes laccases particularly attractive to be studied by spectroscopic approaches. In this review, the potentiality of a combined multifrequency electron paramagnetic spectroscopy /computational approach to gain information on the nature of the catalytic site and radical species is presented. The knowledge at molecular level of the enzyme oxidative process can be of great help to model new enzymes with increased efficiency and robustness.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Review

MeSH terms

  • Barbiturates / chemistry
  • Biocatalysis
  • Catalytic Domain
  • Copper / chemistry
  • Copper / metabolism
  • Electron Spin Resonance Spectroscopy
  • Laccase / chemistry
  • Laccase / metabolism*
  • Substrate Specificity

Substances

  • Barbiturates
  • violuric acid
  • Copper
  • Laccase