Chembiochem. 2026 Jul 29;27(14):e70476. doi: 10.1002/cbic.70476. ABSTRACT Multienzyme cascades provide an efficient biocatalytic strategy for synthesizing nucleoside analogs from simple sugar donors and nucleobases. In pentose-to-nucleoside cascades, purine nucleoside phosphorylase (PNP) catalyzes the terminal N-glycosylation step and strongly influences product formation and substrate scope. Here, seven putative PNP homologs from microorganisms isolated from low-temperature environments…

Chembiochem. 2026 Jul 29;27(14):e70472. doi: 10.1002/cbic.70472. ABSTRACT 5-Keto-4-deoxy glucarate dehydratase and 2-keto-3-deoxy-L-arabinonate dehydratase are members of the dihydrodipicolinate synthase superfamily of aldolase class I enzymes. The enzymes are part of the oxidative nonphosphorylated metabolic pathways for the production of 2-ketoglutarate from glucuronic acid and arabinose, respectively. They carry out a C4 dehydration on their substrates,…

Chembiochem. 2026 Jul 29;27(14):e70482. doi: 10.1002/cbic.70482. ABSTRACT Heme-G-quadruplex DNAzymes are promising biomolecular catalysts; however, their structural stability and catalytic function under elevated-temperature aqueous conditions remain poorly understood. We systematically demonstrate that rationally increasing the number of consecutively stacked G-quartets in the DNA scaffold provides a useful strategy for constructing a highly thermostable heme-G-quadruplex DNAzyme. Our…

Chembiochem. 2026 Jul 29;27(14):e70468. doi: 10.1002/cbic.70468. ABSTRACT The Kemp elimination is a hallmark reaction in computational enzyme design. Designed Kemp eliminases have undergone directed evolution to achieve activities approaching those of natural enzymes. Their success partly reflects the reaction’s apparent simplicity: a highly exergonic, single-step, base-catalyzed elimination that is amenable to quantum-mechanical and hybrid simulations.…

Plant Physiol. 2026 Jul 23:kiag545. doi: 10.1093/plphys/kiag545. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Rice blast, caused by Magnaporthe oryzae (M.oryzae), is one of the three most devastating rice diseases, significantly reducing both yield and grain quality. The Elongator complex, first characterized in Arabidopsis thaliana, regulates growth, development, and innate immunity by tightly associating with hyperphosphorylated RNA…

Angew Chem Int Ed Engl. 2026 Jul 23:e8294925. doi: 10.1002/anie.8294925. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT The carbon-boron bond is among the most versatile functional groups in organic synthesis, and its installation within the strained cyclopropane framework generates borylcyclopropanes with a rich reactivity profile. The presence of a boron moiety on the cyclopropane ring unlocks a…

Nano Lett. 2026 Jul 22. doi: 10.1021/acs.nanolett.6c02317. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Oxidoreductase enzymes encapsulated in metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) offer an effective approach for water decontamination, yet activity loss during slow coprecipitation severely limits their application. Here, we develop a polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP)-accelerated strategy that encapsulates horseradish peroxidase (HRP) into a zeolitic imidazolate framework (ZIF-L) within…

ACS Catal. 2025 Jan 17;15(2):809-816. doi: 10.1021/acscatal.4c06066. Epub 2024 Dec 27. ABSTRACT Oxazolidinones are important heterocycles widely utilized in medicinal chemistry for the synthesis of antifungals, antibacterials, and other bioactive compounds and in organic chemistry as chiral auxiliaries for asymmetric synthesis. Herein, we report a biocatalytic strategy for the synthesis of enantioenriched oxazolidinones through the…

PLoS One. 2026 Jul 22;21(7):e0354469. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0354469. eCollection 2026. ABSTRACT Palm weevil (Rhynchophorus palmarum L.) is a significant pest that has been identified as a threat to palm trees in tropical regions. Beyond its agricultural impact, its digestive system represents a promising source of biocatalysts. The present study investigates the catalytic activity of β-galactosidase extracted…

Bioorg Chem. 2026 Jul 19;181:110260. doi: 10.1016/j.bioorg.2026.110260. Online ahead of print. ABSTRACT Adrenergic agonists with (R)-configuration are active pharmaceutical ingredients, whereas the (S)-enantiomers exhibit reduced activity or even toxicity. However, the asymmetric synthesis of adrenergic agonist precursors is highly challenging due to the instability of the characteristic catechol/phenolic hydroxyl groups and the poor reactivity of…