Enzymatic hydroxylation reactions.

During the past 18 months, considerable progress has been made in the understanding of the key enzyme-substrate interactions that control the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the hydroxylation reaction performed by cytochrome-P450-dependent enzymes of mammalian origin. The manipulation of microbial hydroxylating enzymes, in both whole-cell and cell-free environments, has also been examined in the context of controlling the regioselectivity and stereoselectivity of the hydroxylation reaction. Several new applications for hydroxylating enzymes have been reported, and the construction of chimeric hydroxylating enzymes has been used both for mechanistic studies and for the production of enzymes with high hydroxylating activity for a defined substrate.