Huang Lianggang, Li Yurong, Liu Zhiqiang, Zheng Yuguo
National and Local Joint Engineering Research Center for Biomanufacturing of Chiral Chemicals, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.
Key Laboratory of Bioorganic Synthesis of Zhejiang Province, College of Biotechnology and Bioengineering, Zhejiang University of Technology, Hangzhou, 310014, People's Republic of China.
Biotechnol Lett. 2025 Sep 4;47(5):94. doi: 10.1007/s10529-025-03635-y.
Vitreoscilla hemoglobin (VHb), a homodimeric bacterial hemoglobin, exhibits distinct oxygen-binding properties that enhance cellular respiration and metabolic activity, particularly under hypoxic conditions. This review presents an updated and comprehensive synthesis of VHb-related research, encompassing its molecular structure, redox biochemistry, and transcriptional regulation. Compared with previous reviews, this work integrates recent mechanistic insights-especially those concerning transcription factor interactions, redox-coupled electron transfer, and structural-function relationships elucidated via targeted mutagenesis. In addition to its canonical role in oxygen delivery, VHb has been increasingly utilized in synthetic biology, high-cell-density fermentation, CRISPR-regulated expression platforms, and mammalian systems. Its biotechnological applications extend to enhancing microbial productivity under oxygen limitation, facilitating biocatalysis, and promoting biodegradation. In addition, the review highlights the emerging application of the vgb promoter as a strong regulatory element and summarizes current trends in VHb-related intellectual property and commercial development. VHb also shows promise in next-generation technologies such as environmental remediation and precision agriculture. Future directions should focus on optimizing expression systems, characterizing protein interaction networks, and engineering modular VHb-based components for advanced biosystems.
透明颤菌血红蛋白（VHb）是一种同二聚体细菌血红蛋白，具有独特的氧结合特性，可增强细胞呼吸和代谢活性，尤其是在缺氧条件下。本综述对与VHb相关的研究进行了更新且全面的综合阐述，涵盖其分子结构、氧化还原生物化学及转录调控。与以往的综述相比，本研究整合了最新的作用机制见解，特别是那些关于转录因子相互作用、氧化还原偶联电子转移以及通过定点诱变阐明的结构-功能关系的见解。除了在氧气输送中的经典作用外，VHb在合成生物学、高细胞密度发酵、CRISPR调控表达平台及哺乳动物系统中得到了越来越多的应用。其生物技术应用还包括在氧气限制条件下提高微生物生产力、促进生物催化以及推动生物降解。此外，该综述强调了vgb启动子作为一种强大调控元件的新兴应用，并总结了VHb相关知识产权和商业开发的当前趋势。VHb在环境修复和精准农业等下一代技术中也展现出前景。未来的方向应聚焦于优化表达系统、表征蛋白质相互作用网络以及设计基于VHb的模块化组件以构建先进的生物系统。
