As one of the underlying core technologies in the fields of synthetic biology and green bio-manufacturing, rational protein design is able to effectively solve generic challenges, e.g., improving insufficient performance of natural enzymes, and creating high-performance artificial enzymes. On the occasion of the 10th anniversary of the founding of the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology (TIB), Chinese Academy of Sciences, this paper reviews the important progress of TIB achieved in rational design of industrial proteins, from the development of enzyme design methodology, the design of new enzyme reactions, to the applications of biocatalysis, and prospects future trends of this field. It is hoped that this will build a bridge between academia and industry on the rational design of enzymes, promote the development and application of new technologies and strategies. This will help merging the basic research and industrial application, thereby advancing the bio-manufacturing technological innovation.
Keywords: artificial enzyme; biocatalysis; catalytic mechanism; protein engineering; rational design.