TY - JOUR
T1 - Medical bioremediation of age-related diseases
AU - Mathieu, Jacques M.
AU - Schloendorn, John
AU - Rittmann, Bruce
AU - Alvarez, Pedro J J
PY - 2009/4/9
Y1 - 2009/4/9
N2 - Catabolic insufficiency in humans leads to the gradual accumulation of a number of pathogenic compounds associated with age-related diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and macular degeneration. Removal of these compounds is a widely researched therapeutic option, but the use of antibodies and endogenous human enzymes has failed to produce effective treatments, and may pose risks to cellular homeostasis. Another alternative is "medical bioremediation," the use of microbial enzymes to augment missing catabolic functions. The microbial genetic diversity in most natural environments provides a resource that can be mined for enzymes capable of degrading just about any energy-rich organic compound. This review discusses targets for biodegradation, the identification of candidate microbial enzymes, and enzyme-delivery methods.
AB - Catabolic insufficiency in humans leads to the gradual accumulation of a number of pathogenic compounds associated with age-related diseases, including atherosclerosis, Alzheimer's disease, and macular degeneration. Removal of these compounds is a widely researched therapeutic option, but the use of antibodies and endogenous human enzymes has failed to produce effective treatments, and may pose risks to cellular homeostasis. Another alternative is "medical bioremediation," the use of microbial enzymes to augment missing catabolic functions. The microbial genetic diversity in most natural environments provides a resource that can be mined for enzymes capable of degrading just about any energy-rich organic compound. This review discusses targets for biodegradation, the identification of candidate microbial enzymes, and enzyme-delivery methods.
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U2 - 10.1186/1475-2859-8-21
DO - 10.1186/1475-2859-8-21
M3 - Review article
C2 - 19358742
AN - SCOPUS:65149088269
SN - 1475-2859
VL - 8
JO - Microbial cell factories
JF - Microbial cell factories
M1 - 21
ER -