Biotransformation and Bioactive Molecules

The research group deals with the design, preparation and evaluation of biocatalysts, focused on carboligases, and molecules active as modulators of biological activity (MABs). The design is addressed by computational models of the biocatalyst-subtrate complexes or in general protein- ligand complexes with biologically relevant molecules of interest. The biocatalysis includes, in addition of the preparation of the enzymes by overexpression of the appropriate recombinant strain and the subsequent fermentation process, the evaluation as catalysts in organic chemical reaction of interest and its redesign for the modulation of the activity and selectivity. The synthesis of bioactive molecules is addressed by organic and chemoenzymatic methods yielding novel chemical entities of special difficulty by conventional organic synthesis.