August 16, 2024
A new manuscript by Gokulu and Banta describes the use of DNA Springs to stretch open the active site of a thermostable alcohol dehydrogenase. The enzyme naturally prefers medium chain secondary alcohols and when the active site is stretched open, it can accommodate longer chain substrates. These results demonstrate how mechanical forces can be applied to alter enzymatic reaction trajectories. The new results were published in ACS Synthetic Biology.