Screening of porous and cellular materials for covalent immobilisation of Agaricus bisporus tyrosinase

Burkholderia cepacia lipase immobilization for hydrolytic reactions and the kinetic resolution of the non-equimolar mixtures of isomeric alcohols

The major drawbacks of native lipase applications in processes occurring in water or in organic solvents include: difficulties in catalyst recycling, low activity and operational instability. The immobilization of Burkholderia cepacia lipase by adsorption or covalent binding onto 5 differently functionalized carriers (silica, acrylic, cellulose-based) was performed to overcome this problem. The optimization of the reaction preparation in water-rich media was based on the hydrolytic reactivity of the preparations, as well as the thermal, operational and storage stabilities. Aminated silica carrier, activated with glutaraldehyde, was determined to be the carrier of choice. Regarding processes in water-restricted media, carrier selection was based on reactivity after drying and five preparations were chosen for the resolution of a non-equimolar isomer mixture (85:15 ratio of R to S isomers), treating the kinetic resolution of ((+)-(S/R)-1-[(1S,5R)-6,6-dimethylbicyclo[3.1.0]hex-2-en-2-yl)]ethanol as a model. The resulting acetate of R configuration exhibits interesting sensory properties. The operational stability of the chosen catalysts was tested over 15 consecutive batch processes; the most beneficial results were obtained with lipase adsorbed on an acrylic carrier. Conversion increased gradually from 10 to 84% over the first five processes, which could be explained by the product sorption onto the carrier. Full kinetic resolution with maximal substrate conversion (approximately 84%) was achieved and remained stable during the next 10 runs, an excellent result, and thus, the proposed system might be regarded as an exceptionally attractive solution for the perfume and cosmetic industries.

Silica particles with immobilized protein molecules and polymer brushes

In this research thermo-responsive polymer brushes and protein molecules are immobilized on the surfaces of silica particles by covalent bonds. Pyridyl disulfide functionalized silica particles are prepared by surface chemical reactions, and thiol-terminated poly(oligo(ethylene glycol) monomethyl ether methacrylate) (POEGMA) and bovine serum albumin (BSA) molecules are grafted to the silica particles by thiol-disulfide exchange reactions. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis, dynamic light scattering, confocal laser scanning microscopy, far-UV circular dichroism and transmission electron microscopy are employed to characterize the polymer/protein mixed layers on silica particles. The POEGMA brushes not only protect the protein molecules but also improve the dispersibility of the hybrid particles in aqueous solution. The activity of the immobilized BSA protein can be controlled by the thermo-responsive POEGMA brushes. At a temperature below the lower critical solution temperature (LCST) of POEGMA, BSA activity is not affected by polymer brushes; however, BSA activity decreases significantly at a temperature above the LCST of POEGMA.

STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE

In this research, both protein molecules and polymer brushes were anchored to the silica particles by highly efficient thiol-disulfide exchange reaction, and their grafting density can easily be determined by UV-vis. Owing to the temperature-sensitive nature of the grafted polymer brushes, the protein molecules can be protected by the collapsed polymer brushes above the LCST, and their catalytic activity can be controlled. Moreover, the protein molecules on silica particles can be easily separated from the solution and can be reused.

Efficient utilisation of hydrogel preparations with encapsulated enzymes - a case study on catalase and hydrogen peroxide degradation

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We present a model for the process of enzyme encapsulation in hydrogels.

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Parameters influencing the process efficiency and substrate conversion rate are selected.

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The diameter of the gel capsule used for enzymatic preparation influences the process efficiency.

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Encapsulated enzymes remain more active than native enzymes and enzymes immobilised on solid supports.

The size of the gel preparation, the concentration of the encapsulated enzyme and the ratio of the preparation volume to the volume of the reaction mixture influence the reaction efficiency with encapsulated biocatalysts. A model of first order enzymatic reaction with substrate diffusion is presented and validated by the decomposition reaction of hydrogen peroxide by catalase. The Thiele modulus (Ф) contains the modified (including the enzyme concentration) enzymatic reaction constant (k′). Based on the model analysis, the Thiele modulus should not exceed a value of 2 (optimally less than 0.5). This value can be controlled by appropriate selection of the enzyme concentration inside and the size of the capsule. A lower Ф value gives a flat substrate concentration profile inside the gel capsule and all the enzyme molecules are involved in the reaction. The optimal diameter of the gel capsule with respect to their separation from the reaction mixture is 1–2 mm.

Phenol oxidation by mushroom waste extracts: a kinetic and thermodynamic study

Tyrosinase activity of mushroom extracts was checked for their ability to degrade phenol. Phenol oxidation kinetics was investigated varying temperature from 10 to 60 °C and the initial values of pH, enzyme activity and phenol concentration in the ranges 4.5-8.5, 1.43-9.54 U/mL and 50-600 mg/L, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters of phenol oxidation and tyrosinase reversible inactivation were estimated. Tyrosinase thermostability was also investigated through residual activity tests after extracts exposition at 20-50 °C, whose results allowed exploring the thermodynamics of enzyme irreversible thermoinactivation. This study is the first attempt to separate the effects of reversible unfolding and irreversible denaturation of tyrosinase on its activity. Extracts were finally tested on a real oil mill wastewater.

Immobilization of tyrosinase on modified diatom biosilica: enzymatic removal of phenolic compounds from aqueous solution

Acid and plasma treated diatom-biosilica particles, were modified with 3-aminopropyl triethoxysilane (APTES), and activated with glutaraldehyde. Then, tyrosinase was immobilized onto the pre-activated biosilica by covalent bonding. The biosilica properties were determined using SEM, and FTIR. The enzyme system has been characterized as a function of pH, temperature and substrate concentration. Optimum pH of the free and immobilized enzyme was found to be pH 7.0. Optimum temperatures of the free and immobilized enzymes were determined as 35 and 45 °C respectively. The biodegradation of phenolic compounds (i.e., phenol, para-cresol and phenyl acetate) has been studied by means of immobilized tyrosinase in a batch system. The immobilized tyrosinase retained about 74% of its original activity after 10 times repeated use in the batch system. Moreover, the storage stability of the tyrosinase-biosilica system resulted excellent, since they maintained more than 67% of the initial activity after eighth week storage. Highly porous structure of biosilica can provide large surface area for immobilization of high quantity enzyme. The porous structure of the biosilica can decrease diffusion limitation both substrate phenols and their products. Finally, the immobilized tyrosinase was used in a batch system for degradation of three different phenols.