Inspired by natural multienzyme complexes, many types of artificial multienzyme complexes have recently been constructed. We previously constructed a self-assembled complex of a bacterial cytochrome P450 and its ferredoxin and ferredoxin reductase partners using heterotrimerization of proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) from Sulfolobus solfataricus. In this study, we inserted different peptide linkers between ferredoxin and the PCNA subunit, and examined the effect on activity of the self-assembled multienzyme complex. Although the activity was affected by the lengths of both the rigid poly-L-proline-rich linkers and the flexible Gly4-Ser repeating linkers, the poly-L-proline-rich linkers provided the greatest activity enhancement. The optimized poly-L-proline-rich linker enhanced the activity 1.9-fold compared with the GGGGSLVPRGSGGGGS linker used in the previously reported complex, while the Gly4-Ser repeating linkers, (G4S)n (n = 1–6), did not yield higher activity than the maximum activity by the optimized poly-L-proline linker. Both the rigidity/flexibility and length of the peptide linker were found to be important for enhancing the overall activity of the multienzyme complex.

Recently, analytical techniques have been developed for detecting single-nucleotide polymorphisms in DNA sequences. Improvements of the sequence identification techniques has attracted much attention in several fields. However, there are many things that have not been clarified about DNA. In the present study, we have developed a coarsegraining DNA model with single-nucleotide resolution, in which potential functions for hydrogen bonds and the p-stack effect are taken into account. Using Langevin-dynamics simulations, several characteristics of the coarse-grained DNA have been clarified. The validity of the present model has been confirmed, compared with other experimental and computational results. In particular, the melting temperature and persistence length are in good agreement with the experimental results for a wide range of salt concentrations.

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Bacterial cytochrome P450s (P450s), which catalyze regio- and stereoselective oxidations of hydrocarbons with high turnover rates, are attractive biocatalysts for fine chemical production. Enzyme immobilization is needed for cost-effective industrial manufacturing. However, immobilization of P450s is difficult because electron-transfer proteins are involved in catalysis and anchoring these can prevent them from functioning as shuttle molecules for carrying electrons. We studied a heterotrimeric protein-mediated co-immobilization of a bacterial P450, and its electron-transfer protein and reductase. Fusion with subunits of a heterotrimeric Sulfolobus solfataricus proliferating cell nuclear antigen (PCNA) enabled immobilization of the three proteins on a solid support. The co-immobilized enzymes catalyzed monooxygenation because the electron-transfer protein fused to PCNA via a single peptide linker retained its electron-transport function.

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