Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases: an update on perspectives for synthetic application

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are versatile biocatalysts that catalyze the regio- and stereospecific oxidation of non-activated hydrocarbons under mild conditions, which is a challenging task for chemical catalysts. Over the past decade impressive advances have been achieved via protein engineering with regard to activity, stability and specificity of P450s. In addition, a large pool of newly annotated P450s has attracted much attention as a source for novel biocatalysts for oxidation. In this review we give a short up-to-date overview of recent results on P450 engineering for technical applications including aspects of whole-cell biocatalysis with engineered recombinant enzymes. Furthermore, we focus on recently identified P450s with novel biotechnologically relevant properties.