Immobilization of α-galactosidase on galactose-containing polymeric beads

Industrial application of α-galactosidase requires efficient methods to immobilize the enzyme, yielding a biocatalyst with high activity and stability compared to free enzyme. An α-galactosidase from tomato fruit was immobilized on galactose-containing polymeric beads. The immobilized enzyme exhibited an activity of 0.62 U/g of support and activity yield of 46%. The optimum pH and temperature for the activity of both free and immobilized enzymes were found as pH 4.0 and 37 °C, respectively. Immobilized α-galactosidase was more stable than free enzyme in the range of pH 4.0–6.0 and more than 85% of the initial activity was recovered. The decrease in reaction rate of the immobilized enzyme at temperatures above 37 °C was much slower than that of the free counterpart. The immobilized enzyme shows 53% activity at 60 °C while free enzyme decreases 33% at the same temperature. The immobilized enzyme retained 50% of its initial activity after 17 cycles of reuse at 37 °C. Under same storage conditions, the free enzyme lost about 71% of its initial activity over a period of 7 months, whereas the immobilized enzyme lost about only 47% of its initial activity over the same period. Operational stability of the immobilized enzyme was also studied and the operational half-life (t_1/2 was determined as 6.72 h for p-nitrophenyl α-d-galactopyranoside (PNPG) as substrate. The kinetic parameters were determined by using PNPG as substrate. The K_m and V_max values were measured as 1.07 mM and 0.01 U/mg for free enzyme and 0.89 mM and 0.1 U/mg for immobilized enzyme, respectively. The synthesis of the galactose-containing polymeric beads and the enzyme immobilization procedure are very simple and also easy to carry out.     

Purification and biochemical properties of an extracellular acid phytase produced by the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CY strain

An extracellular acid phytase was purified to homogeneity from the culture supernatant of the Saccharomyces cerevisiae CY strain by ultrafiltration, DEAE-Sepharose column chromatography, and Sephacryl S-300 gel filtration. The molecular weight of the purified enzyme was estimated to be 630 kDa by gel filtration. Removing the sugar chain by endoglycosidase H digestion revealed that the molecular mass of the protein decreased to 446 kDa by gel filtration and gave a band of 55 kDa by SDS-PAGE. The purified enzyme was most active at pH 3.6 and 40 °C and was fairly stable from pH 2.5 to 5.0. The phytase displayed broad substrate specificity and had a K_m value of 0.66 mM (sodium phytate, pH 3.6, 40 °C). The phytase activity was completely inhibited by Fe³⁺ and Hg²⁺, and strongly inhibited (maximum of 91%) by Ba²⁺, Co²⁺, Cu⁺, Cu²⁺, Fe²⁺, Mg²⁺, and Sn²⁺ at 5 mM concentrations.     

Characterization of functionally active immobilized carbonic anhydrase purified from sheep blood lysates

Carbonic anhydrase (CA) catalyzes the reversible reaction of hydration of CO₂ to bicarbonate and the dehydration of bicarbonate back to CO₂. Sequestration of CO₂ from industrial processes or breathing air may require a large amount of highly active and stable CA. Therefore, the objectives of the present study were to purify large amounts of CA from a cheap and easily accessible source of the enzyme and to characterize the enzymatic and kinetic properties of soluble and immobilized enzyme. We recovered 80% of pure enzyme with a specific activity of 4870 EU/mg protein in a single step using sheep blood lysates from slaughter house waste products and CA specific inhibitor affinity chromatography. Since affinity pure CA showed both anhydrase and esterase activities, we measured the esterase activities for enzymology. The Michaelis–Menten constant, K_M, pH optimum, activation energy, and thermal stability of soluble enzymes were 8 × 10^?2 M, 7.3 pH, 7.3 kcal/mol and 70 °C, respectively.The immobilization of the enzyme to Affigel-10 was very efficient and 83% of purified enzyme was immobilized. The immobilized enzyme showed a K_M of 5 × 10^?2 M and activation energy of 8.9 kcal/mol, suggesting a better preference of substrate for immobilized enzyme in comparison to soluble enzyme. In contrast to soluble enzyme, immobilized enzyme showed relatively higher activity at pH 6–8. From these results, we concluded that a shift in pH profile toward acidic pH is due to modification of lysine residues involved in the immobilization process. The immobilized enzyme was stable at higher temperatures and showed highest activity at 80 °C. The activity of immobilized enzyme in a flow reactor at 0.5–2.2 ml/min flow rate was unaffected. Collectively, results from the present study suggested the application of blood lysate waste from animal slaughterhouses for purification of homogeneous enzyme for CO₂ capture in a flow reactor.     

Immobilization of alkaline serine endopeptidase from Bacillus licheniformis on SBA-15 and MCF by surface covalent binding

An industrial enzyme, alkaline serine endopeptidase, was immobilized on surface modified SBA-15 and MCF materials by amide bond formation using carbodiimide as a coupling agent. The specific activities of free enzyme and enzyme immobilized on SBA-15 and MCF were studied using casein (soluble milk protein) as a substrate. The highest activity of free enzyme was obtained at pH 9.5 while this value shifted to pH 10 for SBA-15 and MCF immobilized enzyme. The highest activity of immobilized enzymes was obtained at higher temperature (60 °C) than that of the free enzyme (55 °C). Kinetic parameters, Michaelis–Menten constant (K_m) and maximum reaction velocity (V_max), were calculated as K_m = 13.375, 11.956, and 8.698 × 10^?4 mg/ml and V_max = 0.156, 0.163 and 0.17 × 10^?3 U/mg for the free enzyme and enzyme immobilized on SBA-15 and MCF, respectively. The reusability of immobilized enzyme showed 80% of the activity retained even after 15 cycles. Large pore sized MCF immobilized enzyme was found to be more promising than the SBA-15 immobilized enzyme due to the availability of larger pores of MCF, which offer facile diffusion of substrate and product molecules.     

Characterization of a HAP–phytase from a thermophilic mould Sporotrichum thermophile

The phytase of Sporotrichum thermophile was purified to homogeneity using acetone precipitation followed by ion-exchange and gel-filtration column chromatography. The purified phytase is a homopentamer with a molecular mass of ～456 kDa and pI of 4.9. It is a glycoprotein with about 14% carbohydrate, and optimally active at pH 5.0 and 60 °C with a T_1/2 of 16 h at 60 °C and 1.5 h at 80 °C. The activation energy of the enzyme reaction is 48.6 KJ mol^?1 with a temperature quotient of 1.66, and it displayed broad substrate specificity. Mg²⁺ exhibited a slight stimulatory effect on the enzyme activity, while it was markedly inhibited by 2,3-butanedione suggesting a possible role of arginine in its catalysis. The chaotropic agents such as guanidinium hydrochloride, urea and potassium iodide strongly inhibited phytase activity. Inorganic phosphate inhibited enzyme activity beyond 3 mM. The maximum hydrolysis rate (V_max) and apparent Michaelis–Menten constant (K_m) for sodium phytate were 83 nmol mg^?1 s^?1 and 0.156 mM, respectively. The catalytic turnover number (K_cat) and catalytic efficiency (K_cat/K_m) of phytase were 37.8 s^?1 and 2.4 × 10⁵ M^?1 s^?1, respectively. Based on the N-terminal and MALDI–LC–MS/MS identified amino acid sequences of the peptides, the enzyme did not show a significant homology with the known phytases.     

Comparative biochemical characterization of soluble and chitosan immobilized β-galactosidase from Kluyveromyces lactis NRRL Y1564

An investigation was conducted on the production of β-galactosidase (β-gal) by different strains of Kluyveromyces, using lactose as a carbon source. The maximum enzymatic activity of 3.8 ± 0.2 U/mL was achieved by using Kluyveromyces lactis strain NRRL Y1564 after 28 h of fermentation at 180 rpm and 30 °C. β-gal was then immobilized onto chitosan and characterized based on its optimal operation pH and temperature, its thermal stability and its kinetic parameters (K_m and V_max) using o-nitrophenyl β-d-galactopyranoside as substrate. The optimal pH for soluble β-gal activity was found to be 6.5 while the optimal pH for immobilized β-gal activity was found to be 7.0, while the optimal operating temperatures were 50 °C and 37 °C, respectively. At 50 °C, the immobilized enzyme showed an increased thermal stability, being 8 times more stable than the soluble enzyme. The immobilized enzyme was reused for 10 cycles, showing stability since it retained more than 70% of its initial activity. The immobilized enzyme retained 100% of its initial activity when it was stored at 4 °C and pH 7.0 for 93 days. The soluble β-gal lost 9.4% of its initial activity when it was stored at the same conditions.     

A comparison of the kinetic properties of free and immobilized Aspergillus oryzae β-galactosidase

The objective of this work was to compare the properties of free and immobilized β-galactosidase (Aspergillus oryzae), entrapped in alginate–gelatin beads and cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. The free and immobilized forms of the enzyme showed no decrease in enzyme activity when incubated in buffer solutions in pH ranges of 4.5–7.0. The kinetics of lactose hydrolysis by the free and immobilized enzymes were studied at maximum substrate concentrations of 90 g/L and 140 g/L, respectively, a temperature of 35 °C and a pH of 4.5. The Michaelis–Menten model with competitive inhibition by galactose fit the experimental results for both forms. The K_m and V_m values of the free enzyme were 52.13 ± 2.8 mM and 2.56 ± 0.3 g_glucose/L min mg_enzyme, respectively, and were 60.30 ± 3.3 mM and 1032.07 ± 51.6 g_lactose/min m³_catalyst, respectively, for the immobilized form. The maximum enzymatic activity of the soluble form of β-galactosidase was obtained at pH 4.5 and 55 °C. Alternatively, the immobilized form was most active at pH 5.0 at 60 °C. The free and immobilized enzymes presented activation energies of 6.90 ± 0.5 kcal/mol and 7.7 ± 0.7 kcal/mol, respectively, which suggested that the immobilized enzyme possessed a lower resistance to substrate transfer.     

Enhanced activity of immobilized pepsin nanoparticles coated on solid substrates compared to free pepsin

In the present work nanoparticles (NPs) of pepsin were generated in an aqueous solution using high-intensity ultrasound, and were subsequently immobilized on low-density polyethylene (PE) films, or on polycarbonate (PC) plates, or on microscope glass slides. The pepsin NPs coated on the solid surfaces have been characterized by HRSEM, TEM, FTIR, XPS and DLS. The amount of enzyme introduced on the substrates, the leaching properties, and the catalytic activity of the immobilized enzyme on the three surfaces are compared. Catalytic activities of pepsin deposited onto the three solid surfaces as well as free pepsin, without sonication, and free pepsin NPs were compared at various pH levels and temperatures using a hemoglobin assay. Compared to native pepsin, pepsin coated onto PE showed the best catalytic activity in all the examined parameters. Pepsin immobilized on glass exhibited better activity than the native enzyme, especially at high temperatures. Enzyme activity of pepsin immobilized on PC was no better than native enzyme activity at all temperatures at pH 2, and only over a narrow pH range at 37 °C was the activity improved over the native enzyme. A remarkable observation is that immobilized pepsin on all the surfaces was still active to some extent even at pH 7, while free pepsin was completely inactive. The kinetic parameters, K_m and V_max were also calculated and compared for all the samples. Relative to the free enzyme, pepsin coated PE showed the greatest improvement in kinetic parameters (K_m = 15 g/L, V_max = 719 U/mg versus K_m = 12.6 g/L and V_max = 787 U/mg, respectively), whereas pepsin coated on PC exhibited the most unfavorable kinetic parameters (K_m = 18 g/L, V_max = 685 U/mg). The values for the anchored enzyme-glass were K_m = 19 g/L, V_max = 763 U/mg.     

A novel method for the immobilization of glucoamylase onto polyglutaraldehyde-activated gelatin

A novel method was developed for the immobilization of glucoamylase from Aspergillus niger. The enzyme was immobilized onto polyglutaraldehyde-activated gelatin particles in the presence of polyethylene glycol and soluble gelatin, resulting in 85% immobilization yield. The immobilized enzyme has been fully active for 30 days. In addition, the immobilized enzyme retained 90 and 75% of its activity in 60 and 90 days, respectively. The enzyme optimum conditions were not affected by immobilization and the optimum pH and temperature for free and immobilized enzyme were 4 and 65 °C, respectively. The kinetic parameters for the hydrolysis of maltodextrin by free and immobilized glucoamylase were also determined. The K_m values for free and immobilized enzyme were 7.5 and 10.1 g maltodextrin/l, respectively. The V_max values for free and immobilized enzyme were estimated as 20 and 16 μmol glucose/(min μl enzyme), respectively. The newly developed method is simple yet effective and could be used for the immobilization of some other enzymes.     

Biochemical characteristics of phytases from fungi and the transformed microorganism

Five sources of phytases were used to study their biochemical characteristics. Phytase E was from an original Escherichia coli (E. coli), phytase PI and PG from the transformed Pichia pastoris (P. pastoris) with phytase gene of E. coli, phytase B and R from Aspergillus niger (A. niger). The results showed that the relative phytase activities had no significant changes when temperature was below 60 °C (P>0.05), and then decreased significantly with temperature increasing (P<0.01). The fungal phytase with the phytase gene from A. niger had the higher thermostability than the bacterial phytase with the phytase gene from E. coli; i.e. at 70 °C, 27–58% of phytase activity (compared with 30 °C) was retained for the bacterial phytase, and 73–96% for the fungal phytase; at 90 °C, 20–47% was retained for the bacterial phytase, and 41–52% for the fungal phytase, especially for the most thermostable phytase R (P<0.01). The optimum pH ranges were 3.0–4.5 for the bacterial phytases and 5.0–5.5 for the fungal phytases (P<0.01). When pH levels were 1, 7 and 8, only 3–7% of phytase activity (compared with the maximum phytase activity at a pH point) was retained for both bacterial and fungal phytases. The amount of inorganic P released from soybean meal was significantly increased when the levels of phytase activity in the soybean meal increased from 0 to 1.0 U/g soybean meal (P<0.01), except for phytase PI. The maximum P released was obtained at 1 U/g soybean meal for all five kinds of phytases (P<0.01). The most economical phytase concentration for P released was 0.25 U/g for phytase PI and B, and 0.50–1.0 U/g for phytase PG, E and R. In addition, the linear and non-linear regression models were established to estimate phytase activity and its characteristics very easily and economically.     

Improving the activity and stability of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase Lip2 by immobilization on polyethyleneimine-coated polyurethane foam

In this study, polyurethane foam (PUF) was used for immobilization of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase Lip2 via polyethyleneimine (PEI) coating and glutaraldehyde (GA) coupling. The activity of immobilized lipases was found to depend upon the size of the PEI polymers and the way of GA treatment, with best results obtained for covalent-bind enzyme on glutaraldehyde activated PEI-PUF (MW 70,000 Da), which was 1.7 time greater activity compared to the same enzyme immobilized without PEI and GA. Kinetic analysis shows the hydrolytic activity of both free and immobilized lipases on triolein substrate can be described by Michaelis–Menten model. The K_m for the immobilized and free lipases on PEI-coated PUF was 58.9 and 9.73 mM, respectively. The V_max values of free and immobilized enzymes on PEI-coated PUF were calculated as 102 and 48.6 U/mg enzyme, respectively. Thermal stability for the immobilization preparations was enhanced compared with that for free preparations. At 50 °C, the free enzyme lost most of its initial activity after a 30 min of heat treatment, while the immobilized enzymes showed significant resistance to thermal inactivation (retaining about 70% of its initial activity). Finally, the immobilized lipase was used for the production of lauryl laurate in hexane medium. Lipase immobilization on the PEI support exhibited a significantly improved operational stability in esterification system. After re-use in 30 successive batches, a high ester yield (88%) was maintained. These results indicate that PEI, a polymeric bed, could not only bridge support and immobilized enzymes but also create a favorable micro-environment for lipase. This study provides a simple, efficient protocol for the immobilization of Y. lipolytica lipase Lip2 using PUF as a cheap and effective material.     

Hen egg white as a feeder protein for lipase immobilization

Enzyme stabilization via immobilization is one of the preferred processes as it provides the advantages of recovery and reusability. In this study, Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase has been immobilized through crosslinking using 2% glutaraldehyde and hen egg white, as an approach towards CLEA preparation. The immobilization efficiency and the properties of the immobilized enzyme in terms of stability to pH, temperature, and denaturants was studied and compared with the free enzyme. Immobilization efficiency of 56% was achieved with hen egg white. The immobilized enzyme displayed a shift in optimum pH towards the acidic side with an optimum at pH 4.0 whereas the pH optimum for free enzyme was at pH 6.0. The immobilized enzyme was stable at higher temperature retaining about 83% of its maximum activity as compared to the free enzyme retaining only 41% activity at 70 °C. The denaturation of lipase in free form was rapid with a half-life of 2 h at 60 °C and 58 min at 70 °C as compared to 12 h at 60 °C and 2 h at 70 °C for the immobilized enzyme. The effect of denaturants, urea and guanidine hydrochloride on the free and immobilized enzyme was studied and the immobilized enzyme was found to be more stable towards denaturants retaining 74% activity in 8 M urea and 98% in 6 M GndHCl as compared to 42% and 33% respectively in the case of free enzyme. The apparent K_m (2.08 mM) and apparent V_max (0.95 μmol/min) of immobilized enzyme was lower as compared to free enzyme; K_m (8.0 mM) and V_max (2.857 μmol/min). The immobilized enzyme was reused several times for the hydrolysis of olive oil.     

Optimization and immobilization of amylase obtained from halotolerant bacteria isolated from solar salterns

The objective of the present study was to isolate halotolerant bacteria from the sediment sample collected from Marakanam Solar Salterns, Tamil Nadu, India using NaCl supplemented media and screened for amylase production. Among the 22 isolates recovered, two strains that had immense potential were selected for amylase production and designated as P1 and P2. The phylogenetic analysis revealed that P1 and P2 have highest homology with Pontibacillus chungwhensis (99%) and Bacillus barbaricus (100%). Their amylase activity was optimized to obtain high yield under various temperature, pH and NaCl concentration. P1 and P2 strain showed respective, amylase activity maximum at 35 °C and 40 °C; pH 7.0 and 8.0; 1.5 M and 1.0 M NaCl concentration. Further under optimized conditions, the amylase activity of P1 strain (49.6 U mL^?1) was higher than P2 strain. Therefore, the amylase enzyme isolated from P. chungwhensis P1 was immobilized in sodium alginate beads. Compared to the free enzyme form (49.6 U mL^?1), the immobilized enzyme showed higher amylase activity as 90.3 U mL^?1. The enzyme was further purified partially and the molecular mass was determined as 40 kDa by SDS–PAGE. Thus, high activity of amylase even under increased NaCl concentration would render immense benefits in food processing industries.     

Production of xylo-oligosaccharides by immobilized-stabilized derivatives of endo-xylanase from Streptomyces halstedii

An endoxylanase from Streptomyces halstedii was stabilized by multipoint covalent immobilization on glyoxyl-agarose supports. The immobilized enzyme derivatives preserved 65% of the catalytic activity corresponding to the one of soluble enzyme that had been immobilized. These immobilized derivatives were 200 times more stable 200 times more stable than the one-point covalently immobilized derivative in experiments involving thermal inactivation at 60 °C. The activity and stability of the immobilized enzyme was higher at pH 5.0 than at pH 7.0. The optimal temperature for xylan hydrolysis was 10 °C higher for the stabilized derivative than for the non-stabilized derivative. On the other hand, the highest loading capacity of activated 10% agarose gels was 75 mg of enzyme per mL of support. To prevent diffusional limitations, low loaded derivatives (containing 0.2 mg of enzyme per mL of support) were used to study the hydrolysis of xylan at high concentration (close to 1% (w/v)). 80% of the reducing sugars were released after 3 h at 55 °C. After 80% of enzymatic hydrolysis, a mixture of small xylo-oligosaccharides was obtained (from xylobiose to xylohexose) with a high percentage of xylobiose and minimal amounts of xylose. The immobilized-stabilized derivatives were used for 10 reaction cycles with no loss of catalytic activity.     

Immobilization and characterization of human carbonic anhydrase I on amine functionalized magnetic nanoparticles

In this study, we synthesized magnetic nanoparticles (MNPs) by co-precipitation method. After that, silica coating with tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) (SMNPs), amine functionalization of silica coated MNPs (ASMNPs) by using 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES) were performed, respectively. After activation with glutaraldehyde (GA) of ASMNPs, human carbonic anhydrase (hCA I) was immobilized on ASMNPs. The characterization of nanoparticles was performed by transmission electron microscopy (TEM), fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray powder diffraction (XRD) and vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The immobilization conditions such as GA concentration, activation time of support with GA, enzyme amount, enzyme immobilization time were optimized. In addition of that, optimum conditions for activity, kinetic parameters (K_m, V_max, k_cat, kcat/K_m), thermal stability, storage stability and reusability of immobilized enzyme were determined.The immobilized enzyme activity was optimum at pH 8.0 and 25 °C. The K_m value of the immobilized enzyme (1.02 mM) was higher than the free hCA I (0.48 mM). After 40 days incubation at 4 °C and 25 °C, the immobilized hCA I sustained 89% and 85% of its activity, respectively. Also, it sustained 61% of its initial activity after 13 cycles. Such results revealed good potential of immobilized enzyme for various applications.     

Immobilization of urease on vapour phase stain etched porous silicon

Porous silicon layers fabricated by the reaction-induced vapor phase stain etch method were coated with 5% polyethylenimine. Urease from Canavalia brasiliensis beans was immobilized on this support through covalent linking with 2.5% glutaraldehyde. The pH and temperature profile of the immobilized and free urease exhibited higher activity at pH 6.5 and 37 °C. After being stored for 30 days at 4 °C, the immobilized enzyme had 75% of the initial activity. The maximum apparent Michaelis constant for free urease (K_m) was 94.33 mM whereas for immobilized urease was 53.04 mM. The maximum reaction velocity (V_max) for free urease was 3.51 mmol/min and for immobilized urease was 1.57 mmol/min.     

Immobilization of catalase onto Eupergit C and its characterization

Bovine liver catalase was covalently immobilized onto Eupergit C. Optimum conditions of immobilization: pH, buffer concentration, temperature, coupling time and initial catalase amount per gram of carrier were determined as 7.5, 1.0 M, 25 °C, 24 h and 4.0 mg/g, respectively. V_max and K_m were determined as 1.4(±0.2) × 10⁵ U/mg protein and 28.6 ± 3.6 mM, respectively, for free catalase, and as 3.7(±0.4) × 10³ U/mg protein and 95.9 ± 0.6 mM, respectively, for immobilized catalase. The thermal stability of the immobilized catalase in terms of half-life time (29.1 h) was comparably higher than that of the free catalase (9.0 h) at 40 °C. Comparison of storage stabilities showed that the free catalase completely lost its activity at the end of 11 days both at room temperature and 5 °C. However, immobilized catalase retained 68% of its initial activity when stored at room temperature and 79% of its initial activity when stored at 5 °C at the end of 28 days. The highest reuse number of immobilized catalase was 22 cycles of batch operation when 40 mg of immobilized catalase loaded into the reactor retaining about 50% of its original activity. In the plug flow type reactor, the longest operation time was found as 82 min at a substrate flow rate of 2.3 mL/min when the remaining activity of 40 mg immobilized catalase was about 50% of its original activity. The resulting immobilized catalase onto Eupergit C has good reusability, thermal stability and long-term storage stability.     

Application of chitosan beads immobilized Rhodococcus sp. NCIM 2891 cholesterol oxidase for cholestenone production

The cell-bound cholesterol oxidase from the Rhodococcus sp. NCIM 2891 was purified three fold by diethylaminoethyl–sepharose chromatography. The estimated molecular mass (SDS-PAGE) and K_m of the enzyme were ∼55.0 kDa and 151 μM, respectively. The purified cholesterol oxidase was immobilized on chitosan beads by glutaraldehyde cross-linking reaction and immobilization was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy and energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The optimum temperature (45 °C, 5 min) for activity of the enzyme was increased by 5 °C after immobilization. Both the free and immobilized cholesterol oxidases were found to be stable in many organic solvents except for acetone. Fe²⁺ and Pb²⁺ at 0.1 mM of each acted as inhibitors, while Ag⁺, Ca²⁺, Ni²⁺ and Zn²⁺ activated the enzyme at similar concentration. The biotransformation of cholesterol (3.75 mM) with the cholesterol oxidase immobilized beads (3.50 U) leads to ∼88% millimolar yield of cholestenone in a reaction time of 9 h at 25 °C. The immobilized enzyme retains ∼67% activity even after 12 successive batches of operation. The biotransformation method thus, shows a great promise for the production of pharmaceutically important cholestenone.     

Impressive effect of immobilization conditions on the catalytic activity and enantioselectivity of Candida rugosa lipase toward S-Naproxen production

Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) was immobilized on Amberlite XAD 7 and the advantage of immobilization under the best reaction conditions in achieving high activity and enantioselectivity was shown for the hydrolysis of racemic Naproxen methyl ester. The performance of CRL was found to be better when the enzyme was immobilized at the temperature and pH values where higher conversion and enantioselectivity were obtained. The effects of immobilized lipase load, temperature, pH and substrate concentration on the conversion and enantioselectivity toward S-Naproxen production in aqueous phase/isooctane biphasic batch system were also evaluated. The increase in immobilized lipase load in 320–800 U/mL range increased the conversion of the substrate and enantioselectivity for S-Naproxen. The kinetic resolution of racemic Naproxen methyl ester conducted at the temperatures of 40, 45 and 50 °C and at the pH values of 4, 6, 7.5 and 9 resulted in the highest conversion and enantioselectivity at 45 °C and pH 6. Higher concentration of racemic Naproxen methyl ester than 10 mg/mL decreased both the conversion and enantioselectivity. CRL, which was immobilized at the temperature and pH values where the enzyme was more enantioselective, was successfully used in three successive batch runs each of 180 h. The highest enantiomeric ratio achieved in the S-Naproxen production was 174.2 with the conversion of 49%.