Metalloenzymes: From Biocatalysis to Medicine

Dear Colleagues,

Metalloenzymes represent a cornerstone of biological catalysis, with metal ions (such as Fe, Zn, Cu, Ni, Mn, or Co) integrated into their active sites to enable a vast array of chemical transformations essential for life. The unique coordination chemistry of the metal centers allows metalloenzymes to achieve remarkable efficiency, selectivity, and reaction rates under mild physiological conditions—far surpassing many synthetic catalysts.

Over the past decades, advances in structural biology (e.g., X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM), spectroscopy, and computational modeling have deepened our understanding of metalloenzyme mechanisms, revealing how metal ions stabilize transition states, activate substrates, and tune reactivity. This knowledge has profound implications across life sciences: in basic research; in biotechnology; in biocatalysis for sustainable chemical synthesis, including the production of pharmaceuticals; fine chemicals; and biofuels under green conditions.

Equally significant is their role in medicine. Many metalloenzymes are implicated in disease pathogenesis. Consequently, metalloenzymes are attractive therapeutic targets, with inhibitor development offering new strategies for treating cancer, neurodegenerative disorders, inflammatory diseases, and microbial infections.

We are pleased to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue on "Metalloenzymes: From Biocatalysts to Medicine," which seeks to showcase cutting-edge research at the interface of biochemistry, biotechnology, and biomedicine.

This Special Issue aims to bring together original research articles, reviews, and perspectives that explore the roles of metalloenzymes, spanning their fundamental mechanisms as biocatalysts in living systems to their translational applications in medicine and biotechnology. Contributions may address structure-function relationships, catalytic mechanisms, metal center assembly and regulation, enzyme engineering or design (including artificial metalloenzymes), biocatalytic applications in sustainable synthesis, and the development of metalloenzyme-targeted therapies or diagnostics.

The topic aligns closely with the scope of Life, an international peer-reviewed open-access journal dedicated to fundamental themes in the life sciences, from basic to applied research. Life encompasses biochemistry, biomedicine, biotechnology, and related fields, making it an ideal venue for studies on metalloenzymes as central players in biological processes and their relevance to health, disease, and bio-based technologies. By focusing on metal-dependent enzymes within biological contexts, the Special Issue maintains a coherent yet interdisciplinary scope that highlights advances with broad implications for understanding life and improving human health.

We welcome high-quality submissions in the following thematic areas (though not limited to these):

• Structural and mechanistic studies of metalloenzymes using advanced biophysical and computational approaches.
• Role of metalloenzymes in cellular metabolism, redox biology, and physiological/pathophysiological processes.
• Biocatalytic applications of natural or engineered metalloenzymes in green chemistry, pharmaceutical synthesis, and industrial biotechnology.
• Design and optimization of artificial metalloenzymes for “new-to-nature” reactions.
• Metalloenzymes as therapeutic targets: inhibitor/activator development, drug discovery, and resistance mechanisms.
• Metalloenzymes in disease models and diagnostic/therapeutic innovations.
• Evolutionary aspects, biogenesis, and regulation of metal centers in enzymes.
• Interdisciplinary studies combining metalloenzymology with synthetic biology, biomedicine, or environmental biotechnology.

Dr. Kari Stone
Prof. Dr. Kyle Grice
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Life is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• metalloenzymes
• biocatalysts
• enzyme engineering
• therapeutic targets
• bioinorganic chemistry