A metal ion regulated artificial metalloenzyme

Regulation of enzyme activity is essential in living cells. The rapidly increasing number of designer enzymes with new-to-nature activities makes it necessary to develop novel strategies for controlling their catalytic activity. Here we present the development of a metal ion regulated artificial metalloenzyme created by combining two anchoring strategies, covalent and supramolecular, for introducing a regulatory and a catalytic site, respectively. This artificial metalloenzyme is activated in the presence of Fe(2+) ions, but only marginally in the presence of Zn(2+).