Biochemical reactions for in vitro ATP production and their applications

Various biocatalytic reactions require adenosine triphosphate (ATP). A steady supply of ATP by enzymatic recycling from ADP or AMP is thus important for large-scale biocatalytic synthesis in order to lessen the overall costs. Current techniques for recycling ATP in biocatalysis involve mostly one or two cascade enzymes to phosphorylate AMP or ADP to form ATP. Herein, we describe the biochemical reactions and applications of ATP regeneration enzymes including acetate kinase, pyruvate kinase, adenylate kinase, polyphosphate kinase 2, and polyphosphate kinase 3. The use of polyphosphate kinase 2 with acyl-CoA ligase for regenerating acyl-CoA is also discussed. The current applications of ATP and acyl-CoA regeneration systems for biocatalytic processes are also highlighted.