News
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April, 2025
Scientific paperAfter great efforts, our review paper on the protein engineering aspects of biocatalytic asymmetric synthesis of D-phenylalanines has been finalized! |
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March, 2025
Conference – Novel Enzymes 2025 and 2027Seven of our colleagues attended the 8th international conference on Novel Enzymes 2025 in Budapest. Our members presented their research through poster presentations. Congratulation to Anca (Anca Elena Anghel), Andris (András-Ernő Iszlai), Blanka (Blanka-Eszter Nagy), Diana (Diana Scrob), Gyopi (Ágoston Gyopárka), Laura (Laura Barabás)! |
March, 2025
Conference announcementThe RomCat2025 conference will be held in Cluj-Napoca. The conference is preceded by a Summer School "Catalysis at the crossroads between biology and chemistry" which is hosted in the laboratories of our research center. We warmly welcome everyone with an interest in the field to join us! |
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February, 2025
Laboratory inaugurationOur protein crystallization facilities, including a Mosquito X-Tal3 (SPT-Labtech), have been established in the same lab as the NanoITC. The immobilization lab has just received two exciting new additions: a benchtop NMR spectrometer (Oxford Instruments) and an ultracentrifuge! |
January, 2025
Scientific paperOur research on enhancing the monitoring of enzymatic PET hydrolysis has been published in Scientific Reports! |
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December, 2024
Conference on ING Protein Family and Drug DiscoveryOn December 10, 2024, Dr. Jhon Alexander Rodriguez Buitrago from the Karolinska Institute and Umeå University, Sweden, delivered a conference titled “Exploring the ING Protein Family: From Structural Insights to Drug Discovery Perspectives.” His talk highlighted advanced techniques including X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy (Cryo-EM), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. |
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October, 2024
New members!We’re excited to officially welcome Blanka Eszter Nagy and Loránd Nagy as PhD students in our group! They've been with us since their Bachelor's thesis, and we’re now wishing them the best of luck as they begin their doctoral studies. |
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September, 2024
Congratulations to Raluca on her successful PhD defense!Raluca defended her PhD thesis, entitled "Protein Engineering of Phenylalanine Ammonia-Lyases for the Synthesis of Unnatural L-Phenylalanine Analogues" on September 27th. Her dedication, hard work, and innovative research have culminated in this remarkable achievement, marking an important milestone in her academic journey. Her thesis contains extensive experimental data and presents the results of her rigorous research in assay development, directed evolution, and phylogenetic analysis. |
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September, 2024
Visit of invited lecturerOur esteemed collaborator, Prof. Ligia O. Martins from ITQB (Instituto de Tecnologia Química e Biológica António Xavier) NOVA University Lisbon, visited our Research Center and presented her research group and their results regarding their investigation various bacterial oxidoreductases, including laccases, metallo-oxidases, azoreductases, DyP-type peroxidases, isoeugenol monooxygenases, and carbohydrate oxidase. Their aim is to understand their mechanisms, structures, and improve their performance through protein engineering methods like directed evolution. Following the discussions, our group had the pleasure of showing Prof. Martins around Cluj, giving her a glimpse of the city’s rich culture and history. We thank her for the inspiring lectures and the insightful scientific discussions. |
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September, 2024
Welcome Aishwarya!We are excited to welcome Aishwarya, a talented postdoc from India, to our research center! |
August, 2024
Scientific paperOur work on the synthesis of aroma esters by the direct esterfication of carboxylic acids with aromatic alcohols mediated by lipase B from Candida antarctica encapsulated in a sol–gel matrix in a solvent-free system have been published in Reaction Chemistry & Engineering! |
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July, 2024
Scientific Event – European Congress on BiotechnologyOne of our PhD student Krisztina and an MSc student Blanka attended the joint conference of the European Congress on Biotechnology (ECB 2024) organized by the European Federation of Biotechnology, held in Rotterdam, the Netherlands from June 30th to July 3rd. Our students presented their research through scientific posters: |
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June, 2024
Lab inaugurationAfter months of administrative challenges and hard work, we are excited to announce that our Enzymology and Applied Biocatalysis Research Center has expanded with a new lab, hosting enzyme immobilization and continuous flow biocatalysis facilities. |
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May, 2024
Welcome back Raluca!Welcome back Raluca from your 3-month research fellowship at the renowned ITQB of NOVA University from Lisbon! |
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May, 2024
Scientific paperOur research related to the immobilization of D-amino acid dehydrogenase (DAADH) has been published in Process Biochemistry. The paper presents various fine-tuned immobilization procedures for the DAADH enzyme, leading to the development of an efficient biocatalyst for the preparative-scale synthesis of D-pehnylalanine. This work brings us closer to our goal of enzymatically producing enantiopure D-amino acids! We thank or collaborator Prof. Dr. Jörg Pietruszka for the fruitful collaboration on this topic! |
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February, 2024
Scientific paperOur work on the characterization of the substrate scope and biocatalytic potential of the Loktanella atrilutea-derived aromatic ammonia-lyase (LaAAL) has been published in ChemBioChem. The novel AAL displays high activity towards 3,4-dimethoxy trans-cinnamic acid, with surprisingly diminished activity towards natural AAL substrates. This work brings us closer to identifying the natural roles of these novel AALs and understanding the evolutionary reasons for their development. |
