Behaviors of enzyme immobilization onto functional microspheres

Aerogel microspheres from natural cellulose nanofibrils and their application as cell culture scaffold

We demonstrated that ultralight pure natural aerogel microspheres can be fabricated using cellulose nanofibrials (CNF) directly. Experimentally, the CNF aqueous gel droplets, produced by spraying and atomizing through a steel nozzle, were collected into liquid nitrogen for instant freezing followed by freeze-drying. The aerogel microspheres are highly porous with bulk density as low as 0.0018 g cm(-3). The pore size of the cellulose aeogel microspheres ranges from nano- to macrometers. The unique ultralight and high porous structure ensured high moisture (~90 g g(-1)) and water uptake capacity (~100 g g(-1)) of the aerogel microspheres. Covalent cross-linking between the native nanofibrils and cross-linkers made the aerogel microspheres very stable even in a harsh environment. The present study also confirmed this kind of aerogel microspheres from native cellulose fibers can be used as cell culture scaffold.

Different strategies of covalent attachment of oligonucleotide probe onto glass beads and the hybridization properties

The glass bead is a new biochip support material for immobilization biomolecules, due to its independence and convenient rearrangement. In order to optimize the immobilization efficiency of oligonucleotides onto glass beads and obtain the highest hybridization efficiency, three commonly used coupling strategies have been studied for covalently attaching oligonucleotides onto large glass beads. Glass beads with 250 microm diameter were amino-silaned with 2% 3-aminopropyltrimethoxysilane (APTMS) and then reacted separately with glutaraldehyde, succinic anhydride and 1,4-phenylene diisothiocyanate (PDITC) to derive CHO beads, COOH beads and isothiocyanate-modified beads (NCS-Beads) accordingly. Afterwards, amino-terminal oligonucleotides were covalently attached onto the surface of beads achieved by three strategies mentioned above. The immobilization efficiency were studied to compare the three strategies, which turned out 2.55 x 10(13) probes/cm2 for CHO-Beads, 3.21 x 10(13) probes/cm2 for COOH beads and 6.68 x 10(13) probes/cm2 for NCS beads. It meant that the immobilization efficiency based on NCS beads was most acceptable. And the method, developed by attaching amino-terminal oligonucleotides onto these cyanate active beads, could be regarded as an efficient one for immobilizing oligonucleotides onto a solid surface. Moreover, in this paper, the hybridization properties of NCS bead-based oligonucleotides have been studied by employing Cy5-tagged complementary oligonucleotides. It was found that the high probe density NCS beads led to low hybridization efficiency possibly due to the existence of steric crowding. In addition, the equilibrium binding constant KA was determined by employing Langmuir isotherm model, which was 7.0 x 10(6) M(-1) for NCS beads with the density of 6.7 x 10(13) probes/cm2. Furthermore, it only took 60 min to reach hybridization equilibrium. These large microspheres (>100 microm) can be employed in the mesofluidic systems for automated heterogeneous assays.

Adsorption behavior and activity of horseradish peroxidase onto polysaccharide-decorated particles

The adsorption behavior of horseradish peroxidase (HRP) onto hybrid particles of poly(methylmethacrylate) (PMMA) and carboxymethylcellulose (CMC) was investigated by means of spectrophotometry. Dispersions of PMMA/CMC particles were characterized by light scattering, zeta potential measurements and scanning electron microscopy before and after HRP adsorption. HRP adsorbed irreversibly onto PMMA/CMC particles; the adsorption isotherm showed an initial step and an adsorption plateau. The enzymatic activity of free HRP and immobilized HRP (plateau region) was monitored by means of spectrophotometry as a function of storing time. Upon adsorbing HRP there is little (up to 20%) or no reduction of enzymatic activity in comparison to that observed for free HRP in solution. After storing free HRP and HRP-covered PMMA/CMC particles for 18 days the level of enzymatic activity is kept. HRP-covered PMMA/CMC particles dispersions, which were dried and re-dispersed, retained 50% of their catalytic properties. These interesting findings were discussed in the light of a beneficial effect of a hydrated microenvironment for maintenance of enzyme conformation and activity.