EvoEnzyme

EvoEnzyme SL https://evoenzyme.com  is a spin-off company from the Institute of Catalysis (ICP, CSIC) in Madrid. The company develops and commercializes customized biocatalysts (obtained by protein engineering) for industrial applications. EvoEnzyme also has wide expertise in the design and execution of customized Directed Evolution R&D projects. The company was created after more than 20 years of research from the laboratory of Prof. Miguel Alcalde (CSIC), a leading laboratory on the evolution of fungal oxidoreductases https://miguelalcaldelab.eu. It is founded on the most relevant basis of knowledge, protocols, methods and overall research experience. EvoEnzyme has a strong drive in the development of top-notch technologies for Directed Evolution, supported by the machinery of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, with an array of library creation methods and high-throughput screening assays. Based on engineering efforts, the company has a wide panel of evolved fungal -unspecific- peroxygenases (UPOs), high-redox potential laccases, versatile peroxidases, aryl-alcohol oxidases and hydrolases ready for industrial applications. Additionally, the laboratory of EvoEnzyme works on the development of bioprocesses for enzyme production in yeast (S. cerevisiae and Pichia pastoris) from bench to pilot plant bioreactors.

EvoEnzyme is located at the Scientific Park in Cantoblanco Campus (Madrid). Cantoblanco is declared a Campus of International Excellence, where The Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) has seven Faculties, a Higher Polytechnic School (EPS) and it is also home for than 30 research centres and institutes with intense presence of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC).

As a proud contributor to the W-BioCat project, EvoEnzyme puts effort into protein engineering, employing ancestral reconstruction, resurrection, and directed evolution for W-enzymes. The company’s expertise plays a pivotal role in shaping novel W-enzyme systems, driving successful development and optimization.

Claudia Andreini's group

Claudia Andreini’s group works at the Magnetic Resonance Center (CERM/CIRMMP Infrastructure) of the University of Florence (https://www.cerm.unifi.it/). The group focuses on sequence and structural bioinformatics of metalloproteins: Claudia Andreini and her collaborators have been pioneers in using computational methods to study these systems, which are crucial for all living organisms, from bacteria to humans.

The Andreini group introduced the key concept of Minimal Functional Site (MFS), a description of metal-binding sites in biological macromolecules based on its local structure independent of the global protein structure. Based on this concept, the group developed the MetalPDB database, which contains all the MFS’s contained in known structures(https://metalpdb.cerm.unifi.it/). The database constitutes a central resource for all scientists involved in the study of metalloproteins, with approximately 3,000 unique domains accessing it monthly. The Andreini group has also developed tools for MFS analysis, including structural comparisons (MetalS2 and MetalS3) and analysis of the local site geometry (FindGeo). These tools have shed light on the enzymatic mechanisms and the evolutionary origins of multiheme cytochromes which have crucial roles in diverse biogeochemical cycles . The Andreini group also developed sequence analysis tools, such as MetalPredator to predict iron, zinc, and copper-dependent proteins from genome databases, and has recently started to employ AI to improve prediction accuracy.

The group is enthusiastic about making its resources and skills available to pursue the success of an exciting and frontier project like W-BioCat.

Welcome!

W-BioCat (www.wbiocat.com) is a new consortium of leading labs and SMEs supported by the European Innovation Council to transform chemical #catalysis.

The chemical industry is dominated by polluting and energy-intensive processes. By contrast, nature provides us with myriads of cheap and powerful catalysts for a wide range of desirable transformations. The problem is that many of these natural catalysts — known as #enzymes — are not suitable for work in research labs or industrial settings.

The W-BioCat project will take on a chemical-production challenge that currently can only be addressed with significant energy and waste: the reduction of carboxylic acids. A group of unique enzymes that contain the heavy metal element tungsten (W) can perform this important reaction but are difficult to produce on a suitable scale. Our team at Delft University of Technology, led by Peter-Leon Hagedoorn, Caroline Paul, and Frank Hollman, will address the challenges for the scalable production of W-enzymes. Together with bioinformatics input from Claudia Andreini of University of Florence we will identify key enzymes that are necessary for economical and low-waste transformation of carboxylic acids. Together with our partners Kylie Vincent Oxford University and the company Hydregen, we will explore possibilities for a biocatalytic H2-driven reduction process as a sustainable alternative for current chemocatalytic approaches. And with our partners in Sarel Fleishman’s lab at Weizmann and enzyme engineering expertise from the company Evoenzyme, will optimize these enzymes’ activity and production yields to demonstrate preparative-scale production of valuable aldehydes and alcohols for the #cosmetics, #flavor, and #fragrance industries. The European companies ChainCraft, Axxence, and Evonik will advise the consortium on the path to the commercialization of our innovations.

Stay tuned to hear more about how our consortium combines cutting-edge methods in #bioinformatics, #AI-assisted #proteinengineering, and #tungstenzymes to develop a new vision for #sustainable chemical production.