Peptide-Based Oxidoreductase Mimics: Activity Origins, Design Principles, Construction Strategies, and Future Trends

Oxidoreductases are basic enzymes that catalyze redox reactions within cells. Naturally occurring oxidoreductases have high catalytic activity and substrate specificity, playing critical roles in bioenergy metabolism, the food industry, and biotechnology. However, limitations, such as high cost, low stability, and poor tolerance to reaction conditions, restrict their practical applications. Developing enzyme mimics with natural oxidoreductase-like activity represents a promising alternative. This review summarizes the activity origins and activity sites of peptide-based oxidoreductase mimics, such as peroxidases, and elaborates on their design principles, construction strategies, distinctive advantages, current challenges, and development trends from the dual perspectives of functional and structural simulation. Future advances in understanding active sites, substrate binding mechanisms, diverse peptide sequences, and characterization techniques will be expected to make them strong competitors to natural enzymes, enabling broad applications in fields such as the food industry (protein modification, rapid testing), biocatalysis, and agricultural sustainability.