Nature has found a variety of ways to use hydrolysis prone metals like vanadium, but most of the uses humans have found for vanadium require careful exclusion of water. Using nature’s toolkit, we can make new vanadium enzymes using the <i>de novo</i> designed Due Ferri single chain (DFsc) protein scaffold. The DFsc scaffold was designed to bind two iron atoms in a four-helix bundle, and we have recently found that it is able to bind to vanadium and functionalize it. Based on an analysis of vanadium enzymes in the PDB, we have further modified the sequence of the DFsc protein to contain arginine in the active site in order to promote vanadium binding. We have seen an enhanced ability of some of these modified DFsc proteins to bind vanadium, along with a shift in redox potentials of vanadium when bound to the proteins, and are exploring the effect that the addition of arginine has on reactivity of these enzymes.

Towards new vanadium enzyme mimics

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ACS Spring 2023

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