DONYA VALIKHANI

Postdoctoral fellow, UdeM

Department of Chemistry


- MIL Campus

- Phone: +1 (514) 343-6111 - Poste : 3918

- Fax: +1 (514) 343-7586

- @ : donya.valikhani@umontreal.ca

Current project

Efficient Screening of Cytochrome P450 BM3 libraries

Cytochrome P450 monooxygenases (P450s) are heme-containing enzymes with important applications in biocatalysis. P450 BM3 from Bacillus megaterium hydroxylates a wide variety of substrates containing non-activated C-H bond using NADPH as an electron source and O2 from air as an oxidant. Whereas fatty acids are native substrates of wild type P450 BM3, protein engineering through mutations, generally near the heme, has expanded the range of substrate acceptance of P450BM3. Screening for new substrates is accelerated when colorimetric methods are available, particularly if they are bacterial colony-based assays. To this effect, it has previously been shown that the readily-observed formation of indigo from indole oxidation with a small number of P450BM3 variants predicted promiscuous oxidation reactions. In an attempt to expand the diversity of variants of P450BM3 that exhibit this trait, we undertook large-scale mutagenesis and screening to identify new indigo-forming variants and verify their correlation towards the oxidation of non-native substrates including aromatic compounds.

Education

- 2014-2018 PhD, Natural Science. Institute of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering, Graz University of Technology, Austria

- 2007-2010 MSc, Organic Chemistry. Department of Chemistry, Isfahan University of Technology, Iran

- 2002-2006 BSc, Chemistry. Department of Chemistry, University of Isfahan, Iran


Research Experience

• 10/2019-present: Postdoctoral researcher, Laboratory Joelle Pelletier, Department of Chemistry, Université de Montréal

• 05/2018-09/2019: Postdoctoral researcher, Laboratory Thomas Wirth and Rudolf K. Allemann, Department of Chemistry, Cardiff University, UK

• 01/2017-02/2017: Exchange Researcher, Microprocess Engineering Research Group, Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

• 08/2015-09/2015: Exchange Researcher, Micronit Microtechnologies B.V., Netherlands

Fellowships and Awards

- 2014-2017: Marie Curie Fellowship as the Early Stage Researcher

- 2010,2012: Iran Nanotechnology Initiative Council Award


Peer reviewed publications

9. Valikhani, D,. Bolivar, J. M., Pelletier, J. N. An Overview of Cytochrome P450 Immobilization Strategies for Drug Metabolism Studies, Biosensing, and Biocatalytic Applications: Challenges and Opportunities. ACS Catalysis 2021

8.    Valikhani, D.; Srivastava P. L.; Allemann R.K., Wirth T. Immobilised Enzymes for Sesquiterpene 

Synthesis in Batch and Flow Systems, ChemCatChem, 2020

7.    Valikhani, D.; Bolivar, J. M.; Nidetzky, B. Enzyme Immobilization in Wall-Coated Flow Microreactors, Immobilization of Enzymes and Cells. Methods in Molecular Biology, vol 2100. Humana, New York, NY, 2020

6.    Valikhani, D.; Bolivar, J. M.; Dennig, A.; Nidetzky, B. A Tailor-Made, Self-Sufficient and Recyclable Monooxygenase Catalyst Based on Co-immobilized Cytochrome P450 BM3 and Glucose Dehydrogenase. Biotechnology and Bioengineering, 2018

5.    Bolivar, J. M.; Valikhani, D.; Nidetzky, B. Demystifying the flow: biocatalytic reaction intensification in microstructured enzyme reactors. Biotechnology Journal, 2018

4.    Valikhani, D.; Bolivar, J. M.; Viefhues, M.; McIlroy, D. N.; Vrouwe. E.; Nidetzky, B. A spring in performance: silica nanosprings boost enzyme immobilization in microfluidic channels. ACS applied materials and interfaces, 2017.

3.    Valikhani, D.; Bolivar, J. M.; Pfeiffer, M.; Nidetzky, B. Multivalency effects on the immobilization

of sucrose phosphorylase in flow microchannels and their use in the development of a high Performance biocatalytic microreactor. ChemCatChem, 2017

2.    Viefhues, M.; Sun. S.; Valikhani, D.; Nidetzky, B.; Vrouwe, E.; Mayr, T.; Bolivar, J. M. Tailor made resealable micro(bio)reactors providing easy integration of in-situ sensors. Journal of Micromechanics and Microengineering, 2017

1.    Ghiaci, M.; Valikhani, D.; Sadeghi, Z. Synthesis and characterization of silica-supported Pd nanoparticles and its application in the Heck reaction. Chinese Chemical Letters, 2012 

ADRESSE / ADDRESS

Université de Montréal
Département de Chimie
Campus MIL - Local B-6227 
1375 Ave.Thérèse-Lavoie-Roux
Montreal, Qc, Canada, H2V 0B3 

CONTACT
Phone: +1 (514) 343-2124
Fax: +1 (514) 343-7586
@ : joelle.pelletier@umontreal.ca 

LIENS / LINKS


PROTEO

Joelle Pelletier - Chemistry Dpt.

Centre in Green Chemistry and Catalysis (CGCC)

Affinity Instruments