Effect of aprotic solvents on the enzymatic activity of lipase in AOT reverse micelles

An overview of recent progress in solvent systems, additives and modifiers of counter current chromatography

Solvent systems are critical to counter current chromatography (CCC). Appropriate additives and modifiers can be used to improve the separation efficiency of CCC.

Nanoencapsulated Lecitase Ultra and Thermomyces lanuginosus Lipase, a Comparative Structural Study

Two commercially available and widely used enzymes, the parent Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL) and the shuffled phospholipase A1 Lecitase (Lecitase Ultra), were encapsulated in AOT/isooctane reverse micelles and evaluated regarding their structure and activity. Preparations were also tested as effective biocatalysts. Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS), electronic paramagnetic resonance (EPR), and fluorescence spectroscopy were the techniques applied to assess the effects of enzyme incorporation to a reverse micellar nanostructure. SAXS analysis showed that the radius of gyration (Rg) changed from 16 to 38 Å, as the water content (w0) increased. Elongated shapes were more commonly observed than spherical shapes after enzyme encapsulation. EPR studies indicated that enzymes do not participate in the interface, being located in the aqueous center. Fluorescence energy transfer showed that TLL is located in the water core, whereas Lecitase Ultra is closer to the interface. Enzymatic activity toward a standard esterification reaction endured after the enzyme was incorporated into the micelles. The activity of TLL for systems with w0 15 showed the highest conversion yield, 38% in 2 h, while the system with w0 10 showed the highest initial velocity, 0.43 μM/min. This last system had a Rg of 19.3 Å, similar to that of the TLL monomer. Lecitase Ultra showed the highest conversion yields in systems with w0 10, 55% in 2 h. However, the initial rate was much lower than that of TLL, suggesting less affinity for the substrates, which is expected since Lecitase Ultra is a phospholipase. In summary, we here used several spectroscopic and scattering techniques to reveal the shape and stability of TTL and Lecitase Ultra encapsulated systems, which allowed the selection of w0 values to provide optimized enzymatic activity.

Improved activity of lipase immobilized in microemulsion-based organogels for (R, S)-ketoprofen ester resolution: Long-term stability and reusability

Microemulsion-based organogels (MBGs) were effectively employed for the immobilization of four commonly used lipases. During the asymmetric hydrolysis of ketoprofen vinyl ester at 30 °C for 24 h, lipase from Rhizomucor miehei and Mucor javanicus immobilized in microemulsion-based organogels (RML MBGs and MJL MBGs) maintained good enantioselectivities (ee_p were 86.2% and 99.2%, respectively), and their activities increased 12.8-fold and 7.8-fold, respectively, compared with their free forms. They gave higher yields compared with other lipase MBGs and exhibited better enantioselectivity than commercial immobilized lipases. Immobilization considerably increased the tolerance to organic solvents and high temperature. Both MJL MBGs and RML MBGs showed excellent reusability during 30 cycles of repeated 24 h reactions at 30 °C (over 40 days). The system maintained yields of greater than 50%, while the ee_s values of RML MBGs and MJL MBGs remained nearly constant at 95% and 88%, respectively.

Enzymatic hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-L-tyrosine p-nitroanilide by α-chymotrypsin in DMSO-water/AOT/n-heptane reverse micelles. A unique interfacial effect on the enzymatic activity

The reverse micelle (RM) media are very good as nanoreactors because they can create a unique microenvironment for carrying out a variety of chemical and biochemical reactions. The aim of the present work is to determine the influence of different water-dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) mixtures encapsulated in 1,4-bis-2-ethylhexylsulfosuccinate (AOT)/n-heptane RMs on the enzymatic hydrolysis of N-benzoyl-L-tyrosine p-nitroanilide (Bz-Try-pNA) by α-chymotrypsin (α-CT). The reaction was first studied in homogeneous media at different DMSO-water mixture compositions and in DMSO-water/AOT/n-heptane RMs. The hydrolysis rates of Bz-Try-pNA catalyzed by α-CT were determined by UV-vis spectroscopy. The reaction follows the Michaelis-Menten mechanism and the kinetic parameters: kcat, KM, and kcat/KM were evaluated under different conditions. In this homogeneous media, DMSO plays an important role in the solubilization process of the peptide which is almost insoluble in water, but it has a tremendous impact on the inactivation of α-CT. It is shown that the enzyme dissolved in a 20% molar ratio of the DMSO-water mixture does not present enzymatic activity. Dynamic light scattering has been used to assess the formation of DMSO-water/AOT/heptane RMs at different DMSO compositions. The results also show that there is preferential solvation of the AOT RM interface by water molecules. To test the use of these RMs as nanoreactors, the kinetic parameters for the enzymatic reaction in these systems have been evaluated. The parameters were determined at fixed W(S) {W(S) = ([water] + [DMSO])/[AOT] = 20} at different DMSO-water compositions. The results show that the Michaelis-Menten mechanism is valid for α-CT in all the RM systems studied and that the reaction takes place at the RM interface. Surprisingly, it was observed that the enzyme encapsulated by the RMs show catalytic effects with similar kcat/KM values at any DMSO composition investigated, which evidence that DMSO molecules are localized far from the RM interface.

Efficient lipase purification using reverse micellar extraction

Reverse micellar extraction (RME) of enzyme provides an attractive option for conventional method with the potential to achieve purification and concentration in a single step with high yield. This study presents a methodology for optimization of RME with Pseudomonas lipase as model system. Fold-purification, percent recovery and extraction time were the objective functions while the type and concentration of surfactant, contact time, pH, ionic strength, and the ratio of organic to aqueous phase were the decision variables. Under optimized conditions, the AOT (Aerosol OT (bis 2-ethylhexyl) sodium sulfosuccinate)-isooctane system gave a 15-fold purification, 80% recovery and 2.5-fold concentration of the Pseudomonas lipase with process time of 45 min.

A novel water-in-ionic liquid microemulsion and its interfacial effect on the activity of laccase

It is of great significance to develop an appropriate water-in-ionic liquid (W/IL) microemulsion suitable for the expression of the catalytic activity of a given enzyme. In this paper, the phase diagram of a new AOT/Triton X-100/H(2)O/[Bmim][PF(6)] pseudo ternary system is presented. With the aid of nonionic surfactant Triton X-100, AOT could be dissolved in hydrophobic ionic liquid [Bmim][PF(6)], forming a large single phase microemulsion region. The water-in-[Bmim][PF(6)] (W/IL) microemulsion domain was identified electrochemically by using K(3)Fe(CN)(6) as a probe. The existence of W/IL microemulsions was demonstrated spectrophotometrically by using CoCl(2) as a probe. New evidences from the FTIR spectroscopic study, which was first introduced to the W/IL microemulsion by substituting D(2)O for H(2)O to eliminate the spectral interference, demonstrated that there existed bulk water at larger ω(0) values (ω(0) was defined as the molar ratio of water to the total surfactant) in the W/IL microemulsion, which had remained unclear before. In addition to the inorganic salts, biomacromolecule laccase could be solubilized in the W/IL microemulsion. The laccase hosted in the microemulsion exhibited a catalytic activity and the activity could be regulated by the composition of the interfacial membrane.

Catalytic activities of fungal oxidases in hydrophobic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate-based microemulsion

For hydrophobic ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([BMIM][PF(6)]), an H(2)O-in-[BMIM][PF(6)] microemulsion could be formed in the presence of nonionic surfactant Triton X-100 (TX-100). In such a medium, both lignin peroxidase (LiP) and laccase could express their catalytic activity with the optimum molar ratio of H(2)O to TX-100 at 8.0 for LiP and >20 for laccase, and the optimum pH values at 3.2 for LiP and 4.2 for laccase, respectively. As compared with pure or water saturated [BMIM][PF(6)], in which the two oxidases had negligible catalytic activity due to the strong inactivating effect of [BMIM][PF(6)] on both enzymes, the use of the [BMIM][PF(6)]-based microemulsion had some advantages. Not only the catalytic activities of both fungal oxidases greatly enhanced, but also the apparent viscosity of the medium decreased.