New biocatalysts mimicking oxidative hemoproteins: Hemoabzymes

Catalytic antibodies with a metalloporphyrin cofactor or hemoabzymes, used as models for hemoproteins like peroxidases and cytochrome P450s, represent a promising route to catalysts tailored for selective oxidation reactions. The first strategy has been to produce anti-porphyrin antibodies, raised against various N-substituted- and meso-carboxyaryl-porphyrins, which led to monoclonal antibodies exhibiting, in the presence of the corresponding iron-porphyrin cofactor, a significant peroxidase activity. We ourselves obtained an artificial hemoprotein by associating a monoclonal antibody, 13G10, and its iron(III)-alpha,alpha,alpha,beta-meso-tetrakis(ortho-carboxyphenyl)porphyrin (Fe(ToCPP)) hapten, which exhibited a significant peroxidase activity. Biological studies suggested that in this antibody, a carboxylic acid side chain of the protein participated in the catalysis, but no amino acid residue acting as an axial ligand of the iron was detected. Therefore, to provide the iron atom with an axial ligand, we raised antibodies against microperoxidase 8, a heme octapeptide containing a histidine bound to the iron atom. This strategy was successful, as an antibody-microperoxidase 8 complex (3A3-MP8) led to the best k(cat)/K-m ever reported for antibody-porphyrin complexes. The ability of the 3A3-MP8 complex to catalyze the selective oxidation of substrates was studied and it was found able to catalyze the regioselective nitration of aromatics by NO2-/H2O2 as well as the stereoselective oxidation of sulfides like thioanisole by H2O2. Other strategies based on antibodies have to be developed to obtain more efficient biomimetic systems for cytochrome P450s. A first one could involve the modification of anti-substrate antibodies by covalent linkage of an iron(III)-porphyrin close to the binding site of the substrate, to obtain an artificial hemoprotein able to catalyze its regioselective oxidation.