Research interests

  • biocatalysts involved in gas conversion
  • genetic engineering, molecular biology and biochemistry of complex metalloenzymes
  • regulation, biosynthesis and function of O2-tolerant hydrogenases
  • application of H2-converting biocatalysts in enzymatic biofuel cells, light-mediated H2 production and H2-driven cofactor regeneration

Research Units in UniSysCat

Awards (selection)

2015 Steinhofer Lecture Award, U Freiburg
1999 PhD award for excellent research in the field of microbiology by the German Association of General and Applied Microbiology (VAAM)

Dr. Oliver Lenz
TU Berlin
Institute of Chemistry, Office PC 14
Straße des 17. Juni 135
10623 Berlin
+49 (0)30 314-25650
+49 (0)30 314-21122
oliver.lenz(at)tu-berlin.de
www.chemie.tu-berlin.de/dr_oliver_lenz

Publications (selection)

J. Preissler, S. Wahlefeld, C. Lorent, C. Teutloff, M. Horch, L. Lauterbach, S. P. Cramer, I. Zebger, O. Lenz, Enzymatic and spectroscopic properties of a thermostable [NiFe]-hydrogenase performing H2-driven NAD+-reduction in the presence of O2, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta – Bioenergetics 2017, 1859, 8–18.

I. Bürstel, E. Siebert, S. Frielingsdorf, Zebger, B. Friedrich, O. Lenz, Synthesis of CO from the central one-carbon pool: origin of the carbonyl ligand in O2-tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenase, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 2016, 113, 14722–14726.

J. Kalms, A. Schmidt, S. Frielingsdorf, P. van der Linden, D. von Stetten, O. Lenz, P. Carpentier, P. Scheerer, Krypton derivatization of an O2-tolerant membrane-bound [NiFe] hydrogenase reveals a hydrophobic tunnel network for gas transport, Angewandte Chemie International Edition 2016, 55, 5586–5590.

C. Schäfer, M. Bommer, S. E. Hennig, J. H. Jeoung, H. Dobbek, O. Lenz, Structure of an actinobacterial-type [NiFe]-hydrogenase reveals insight into O2-tolerant H2 oxidation, Structure 2016, 24, 285–292.

T. H. Lonsdale, L. Lauterbach, S. Honda Malca, B. M. Nestl, B. Hauer, O. Lenz, H2-driven biotransformation of n-octane to 1-octanol by a recombinant Pseudomonas putida strain co-synthesizing an O2-tolerant hydrogenase and a P450 monooxygenase, Chemical Communications 2015, 51, 16173–16175.

M. Horch, L. Lauterbach, M. A. Mroginski, P. Hildebrandt, O. Lenz, I. Zebger, Reversible active site sulfoxygenation can explain the oxygen tolerance of a NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase and its unusual infrared spectroscopic properties, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2015, 137, 2555–2564.

L. Lauterbach, L. H. Wang, M. Horch, L. B. Gee, Y. Yoda, Y. Tanaka, I. Zebger, O. Lenz, S. P. Cramer, Nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy reveals the FeS cluster composition and active site vibrational properties of an O2-tolerant NAD+-reducing [NiFe] hydrogenase, Chemical Science 2015, 6, 1055–1060.

S. Frielingsdorf, J. Fritsch, A. Schmidt, M. Hammer, J. Löwenstein, E. Siebert, V. Pelmenschikov, T. Jaenicke, J. Kalms, Y. Rippers, F. Lendzian, I. Zebger, C. Teutloff, M. Kaupp, R. Bittl, P. Hildebrandt, B. Friedrich, O. Lenz, P. Scheerer, Reversible [4Fe-3S] cluster morphing in an O2-tolerant [NiFe] hydrogenase, Nature Chemical Biology 2014, 10, 378–385.

L. Lauterbach, O. Lenz, Catalytic production of hydrogen peroxide and water by oxygen tolerant [NiFe]-hydrogenase during H2 cycling in the presence of O2, Journal of the American Chemical Society 2013, 135, 17897–17905.

J. Fritsch, P. Scheerer, S. Frielingsdorf, S. Kroschinsky, B. Friedrich, O. Lenz, C. M. Spahn, The crystal structure of an oxygen-tolerant hydrogenase uncovers a novel iron-sulphur centre, Nature 2011, 479, 249–252.

Patents

K. A. Vincent, O. Lenz, L. Lauterbach, Cofactor regeneration system, 2011, WO2013050760A2.

Latest News

Four UniSysCat groups deciphered the multistep incorporation process of the catalytic NiFe(CN)2(CO) cofactor into [NiFe]-hydrogenase, paving the way for chemical reconstitution of this biocatalyst.