Research Results

We have successfully enhanced the catalytic activity of carbon dioxide-fixing enzymes simply by adding metal ions.

Key points of this study

• Improving the activity of malic enzyme^*2, which promotes the reaction that binds carbon dioxide to organic molecules as a carboxyl group^*1, is important for efficient carbon dioxide fixation.
• The research group has successfully enhanced the catalytic activity of malic enzyme simply by adding aluminum ions.
• This achievement serves as an important guideline for controlling the activity of enzymes involved in carbon dioxide fixation through a simple method, toward the realization of artificial photosynthesis systems that combine dyes and enzymes capable of fixing and storing carbon dioxide into organic molecules.

Summary

Professor Yutaka Amao (Director and Professor, Research Center for Artificial Photosynthesis, Osaka City University Media Center) and Takayuki Katagiri (Second-year Doctoral Student and Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science, Department of Molecular Materials Science, Graduate School of Science) have successfully enhanced the activity of malic enzyme, which catalyzes the reaction that fixes carbon dioxide to pyruvic acid^*3 and produces malic acid^*4, simply by adding aluminum ions.

In artificial photosynthesis technology capable of producing malic acid by introducing carbon dioxide into pyruvic acid as a carboxyl group, activating the malic enzyme that catalyzes the reaction binding carbon dioxide to the three-carbon pyruvic acid and converting it into the four-carbon malic acid is essential. In this study, the research group successfully enhanced the catalytic activity of malic enzyme by adding a common metal ion.

These research results have been published online in the New Journal of Chemistry issued by the Royal Society of Chemistry.

*1 Carboxyl group: A functional group (-COOH) that constitutes carboxylic acid, an important organic compound.
*2 Malic enzyme: An oxidative decarboxylase that catalyzes the interconversion between malic acid and pyruvic acid.
*3 Pyruvic acid: A type of carboxylic acid and an important intermediate in glycolysis, amino acid metabolism, and fatty acid metabolism.
*4 Malic acid: A type of carboxylic acid and an organic compound with a wide range of applications in food and industry.

Funding Information

This work was supported by the Fund for the Promotion of Joint International Research (Fostering Joint International Research (B)), Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research on Innovative Areas, and Grant-in-Aid for Japan Society for the Promotion of Science Fellows.

Publication Information

⇒All Press Release (PDF:350.2KB)

Article source: Osaka City University website