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Microenzymes: Is There Anybody Out There?

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Abstract

Biological macromolecules are found in different shapes and sizes. Among these, enzymes catalyze biochemical reactions and are essential in all organisms, but is there a limit size for them to function properly? Large enzymes such as catalases have hundreds of kDa and are formed by multiple subunits, whereas most enzymes are smaller, with molecular weights of 20–60 kDa. Enzymes smaller than 10 kDa could be called microenzymes and the present literature review brings together evidence of their occurrence in nature. Additionally, bioactive peptides could be a natural source for novel microenzymes hidden in larger peptides and molecular downsizing could be useful to engineer artificial enzymes with low molecular weight improving their stability and heterologous expression. An integrative approach is crucial to discover and determine the amino acid sequences of novel microenzymes, together with their genomic identification and their biochemical biological and evolutionary functions.

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Funding

The authors gratefully acknowledge Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP – 2023/01547-5), Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq − 310840/2021-0; 310340/2021-7) and the Instituto Nacional de Ciência e Tecnologia do Bioetanol (INCT - CNPq 465319/2014-9/FAPESP n° 2014/50884-5) for financial support. Research scholarships were granted by FAPESP to JCSS (n° 2019/21989-7) and RCA (n° 2020/00081−4), by CNPq to JCSS (384465/2023-4), and by CNPq/FAPESP to RCA ( CNPq 151187/2023-1/FAPESP n° 2023/09627-8).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Chemistry, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-900, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jose Carlos Santos Salgado & Richard John Ward

  2. Department of Biology, Faculdade de Filosofia, Ciências e Letras de Ribeirão Preto (FFCLRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14040-901, São Paulo, Brazil

    Jose Carlos Santos Salgado, Robson Carlos Alnoch & Maria de Lourdes Teixeira de Moraes Polizeli

  3. Department of Biochemistry and Immunology, Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP), University of São Paulo, Ribeirão Preto, 14049-900, São Paulo, Brazil

    Robson Carlos Alnoch, Maria de Lourdes Teixeira de Moraes Polizeli & Richard John Ward

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  1. Jose Carlos Santos Salgado
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  2. Robson Carlos Alnoch
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  3. Maria de Lourdes Teixeira de Moraes Polizeli
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Contributions

J.C.S.S. and R.J.W. conceived the study; J.C.S.S. and R.C.A. performed the literature search and wrote the original draft; M.L.T.M.P. and R.J.W. critically revised the work. All authors reviewed and approved the final manuscript.

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Correspondence to Jose Carlos Santos Salgado.

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Salgado, J.C.S., Alnoch, R.C., Polizeli, M.d.L.T.d.M. et al. Microenzymes: Is There Anybody Out There?. Protein J (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10930-024-10193-1

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