Objective
Enzymes are Nature’s catalysts, reducing the timescales of the chemical reactions that drive life from millions of years to seconds. There is also great scope for enzymes as biocatalysts outside the cell, from therapeutic and synthetic applications, to bioremediation and even for the generation of novel biofuels. Recent years have seen several impressive breakthroughs in the design of artificial enzymes, particularly through experimental studies that iteratively introduce random mutations to refine existing systems until a property of interest is observed (directed evolution), as well as examples of de novo enzyme design using combined in silico / in vitro approaches. However, the tremendous catalytic proficiencies of naturally occurring enzymes are, as yet, unmatched by any man made system, in no small part due the vastness of the sequence space that needs navigating and the almost surgical precision by which enzymatic catalysis is regulated. The proposed work aims to combine state of the art computational approaches capable of consistently reproducing the catalytic activities of both wild-type and mutant enzymes with novel screening approaches for predicting mutation hotspots, in order to redesign selected showcase systems. Specifically, we aim to (1) map catalytic promiscuity in the alkaline phosphatase superfamily, using the existing multifunctionality of these enzymes as a training set for the introduction of novel functionality, and (2) computationally design enantioselective enzymes, a problem which is of particular importance to the pharmaceutical industry due to the role of chirality in drug efficacy. The resulting theoretical constructs will be subjected to rigorous testing by our collaborators, providing a feedback loop for further design effort and methodology development. In this way, we plan to push existing theoretical tools to the limit in order to bridge the gap that exists between the catalytic proficiencies of biological and man-made catalysts.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: https://op.europa.eu/en/web/eu-vocabularies/euroscivoc.
- engineering and technology environmental biotechnology bioremediation
- natural sciences biological sciences genetics mutation
- natural sciences chemical sciences catalysis biocatalysis
- engineering and technology industrial biotechnology biomaterials biofuels
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules proteins enzymes
You need to log in or register to use this function
We are sorry... an unexpected error occurred during execution.
You need to be authenticated. Your session might have expired.
Thank you for your feedback. You will soon receive an email to confirm the submission. If you have selected to be notified about the reporting status, you will also be contacted when the reporting status will change.
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
ERC-2012-StG_20111012
See other projects for this call
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Host institution
751 05 Uppsala
Sweden
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.