Murburn concept

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In the field of enzymology, murburn is a term coined by Kelath Murali Manoj that explains the catalytic mechanism of certain redox-active proteins.^[1][2][3] The term describes the equilibrium among molecules, unbound ions and radicals, signifying a process of "mild unrestricted redox catalysis".

Murburn is abstracted from "mured burning" (connoting a "closed burning", an oxidative process), and implies equilibriums involving diffusible reactive oxygen species (DRS/DROS/ROS). Though akin to the oxygen assisted combustion of fuel, unlike the flames produced in the open burning process, the biological reaction occurs in enclosed premises, is mild and may generate heat alone (and no flames). Such a reaction could also incur selective and specific electron/moiety transfers.

Further, though burning is a reaction that usually involves oxygen (aerobic process), "burning flames"^[4] produced by anoxic oxidants are also well-known.^[4] Therefore, the enzymes working via murburn scheme (aerobic or anaerobic) could be called murzymes and the region around the biomolecule where the DRS interacts with the final ‘substrate’ is called ‘murzone’.^[5]