Biocatalytic transformations in cells, such as enzyme cascades, involve complex networks proceeding in spatially confined microenvironments. Here, inspired by nature, we demonstrate effective biocatalytic cascades by the encapsulation of two or three enzymes, or enzyme/cofactor components, in zeolitic imidazolate framework-8 metal–organic framework nanoparticles (ZIF8-NMOFs) that act as nanoreactors. The integration of the two-enzyme system (glucose oxidase and horseradish peroxidase) or three-enzyme system (β-galactosidase, glucose oxidase and horseradish peroxidase) in the NMOFs leads to 7.5-fold and 5.3-fold enhancements in the activity of the catalytic cascades, respectively, compared with the bulk mixture of the catalysts in solution. In addition, the encapsulation of alcohol dehydrogenase, NAD⁺–polymer and lactate dehydrogenase in the NMOFs yields a coupled biocatalytic cascade involving coupled NAD⁺-dependent enzymes, leading to the catalytic reduction of pyruvic acid to lactic acid by ethanol.

细胞中的生物催化转化（例如酶级联反应）涉及在空间受限的微环境中进行的复杂网络。在这里，受自然界的启发，我们通过将两种或三种酶或酶/辅酶组分封装在充当纳米反应器的沸石咪唑酸盐骨架8金属-有机骨架纳米颗粒（ZIF8-NMOF）中，证明了有效的生物催化级联反应。在NMOF中整合两种酶系统（葡萄糖氧化酶和辣根过氧化物酶）或三种酶系统（β-半乳糖苷酶，葡萄糖氧化酶和辣根过氧化物酶）可将催化活性提高7.5倍和5.3倍与溶液中催化剂的本体混合物相比，它们分别级联。此外，乙醇脱氢酶NAD ⁺的包封NMOF中的–聚合物和乳酸脱氢酶产生了偶联的生物催化级联反应，其中包括偶联的NAD ⁺依赖性酶，从而导致乙醇将丙酮酸催化还原为乳酸。