Crosslinking of enzyme coaggregate with polyethyleneimine: A simple and promising method for preparing stable biocatalyst of Serratia marcescens lipase

Crosslinking of enzyme aggregates is a promising method for enzyme immobilization. In this work, crosslinked enzyme coaggregates of Serratia marcescens lipase with polyethyleneimine (CLECAs-SML-PEI) were prepared using polyethyleneimine (PEI) as coprecipitant and glutaraldehyde as crosslinking reagent. The crude lipase solution at a low protein concentration (0.1 mg/ml), with PEI at a mass ratio of 3:1 (PEI/protein, w/w), was found to be most adequate for the coprecipitation of SML. After crosslinking of the coaggregate of SML-PEI with 0.2% (w/v) glutaraldehyde under ambient temperature, over 70% of the total lipase activity was recovered. Compared with the free SML, the optimum temperature of the CLECAs-SML-PEI was enhanced from 50 °C to 60 °C and its thermal stability was also significantly improved. CLECAs-SML-PEI showed excellent operational stability in repeated use in aqueous–toluene biphasic system for asymmetric hydrolysis of trans-3-(4′-methoxyphenyl)glycidic acid methyl ester (MPGM), without significant inactivation after 10 rounds of repeated use.     

Elucidation of the mechanism and end products of glutaraldehyde crosslinking reaction by X-ray structure analysis

Glutaraldehyde has been used for several decades as an effective crosslinking agent for many applications including sample fixation for microscopy, enzyme and cell immobilization, and stabilization of protein crystals. Despite of its common use as a crosslinking agent, the mechanism and chemistry involved in glutaraldehyde crosslinking reaction is not yet fully understood. Here we describe feasibility study and results obtained from a new approach to investigate the process of protein crystals stabilization by glutaraldehyde crosslinking. It involves exposure of a model protein crystal (Lysozyme) to glutaraldehyde in alkaline or acidic pH for different incubation periods and reaction arrest by medium exchange with crystallization medium to remove unbound glutaraldehyde. The crystals were subsequently incubated in diluted buffer affecting dissolution of un-crosslinked crystals. Samples from the resulting solution were subjected to protein composition analysis by gel electrophoresis and mass spectroscopy while crosslinked, dissolution resistant crystals were subjected to high resolution X-ray structural analysis. Data from gel electrophoresis indicated that the crosslinking process starts at specific preferable crosslinking site by lysozyme dimer formation, for both acidic and alkaline pH values. These dimer formations were followed by trimer and tetramer formations leading eventually to dissolution resistant crystals. The crosslinking initiation site and the end products obtained from glutaraldehyde crosslinking in both pH ranges resulted from reactions between lysine residues of neighboring protein molecules and the polymeric form of glutaraldehyde. Reaction rate was much faster at alkaline pH. Different reaction end products, indicating different reaction mechanisms, were identified for crosslinking taking place under alkaline or acidic conditions.     

Determination of protein oligomerization state: two approaches based on glutaraldehyde crosslinking

Many biochemical and biophysical methods can be used to characterize the oligomerization state of proteins. One of the most widely used is glutaraldehyde crosslinking, mainly because of the minimum equipment and reagents required. However, the crosslinking procedures currently in use are impaired by the low specificity of the reagent, which can chemically bond any two amino groups that are close in space. Thus, extensive and time-consuming investigation of the reaction conditions is usually required. Here we describe two approaches based on glutaraldehyde that readily give reliable results.     

Glutaraldehyde crosslinking analysis of the C12E8 solubilized H,K-ATPase

A soluble porcine H,K-ATPase preparation was obtained with the nonionic detergent, C12E8. ATP hydrolysis by the soluble H,K-ATPase was stimulated with respect to the native preparation at pH 6.1, while the K(+)-phosphatase activity was comparable to the native enzyme. The soluble enzyme demonstrated characteristic ligand-dependent effects on ATP hydrolysis, including ATP activation of K(+)-stimulated hydrolysis with a K0.5 of 28 +/- 4 microM ATP, and inhibition with an IC50 of 2.1 mM ATP. The activation and inhibition of ATP hydrolysis by K+ was also observed with a K0.5 for activation of 2.8 +/- 0.4 mM KCl at 2.0 mM ATP (pH 6.1) and inhibition with an IC50 of 135 mM KCl at 0.05 mM ATP. 2-Methyl-8-(phenylmethoxy)imidazo[1,2a]pyridine-3-acetonitrile (SCH 28080), a specific inhibitor of the native H,K-ATPase, competitively inhibited the K(+)-stimulated activity with a Ki of 0.035 microM. The soluble enzyme was stable with a t0.5 for ATPase activity of 6 h between 4 and 11 degrees C. The demonstration of these related ligand responses in the catalytic reactions of the soluble preparation indicates that it is an appropriate medium for investigation of the subunit associations of the functional H,K-ATPase. Subunit associations of the active soluble enzyme were assessed following treatment with the crosslinking reagent, glutaraldehyde. The distribution of crosslinked particles was independent of the soluble protein concentration in the crosslinking buffer within the protein range 0.3 to 2.0 mg/ml or the detergent to protein ratio varied from 1 to 15 (w/w). The crosslinked pattern was unaffected by the presence or absence of K during crosslinking or nucleotide concentration. These observations suggest that crosslinking occurs in associated subunits that do not undergo rapid associations dependent upon enzyme turnover. Phosphorylation of the soluble enzyme with 0.1 mM MgATP produced a phosphoprotein at 94 kDa. A phosphoprotein obtained after glutaraldehyde treatment exhibited identical electrophoretic mobility to the crosslinked particle identified by silver stain. Glutaraldehyde treatment of soluble protein fractions resolved on a linear 10-35% glycerol gradient revealed several smaller peptides partially resolved from the crosslinked pump particle, but no active fraction enriched in the monomeric H,K-ATPase. This data indicates that the functional porcine gastric H,K-ATPase is organized as a structural dimer.     

The herpes simplex virus processivity factor, UL42, binds DNA as a monomer

The processivity subunit of the herpes simplex virus DNA polymerase, UL42, is a monomer in solution. However, UL42 is structurally similar to sliding clamp processivity factors, such as PCNA, which encircle DNA as a multimeric ring. We used chemical crosslinking and electrophoretic mobility-shift assays to investigate whether UL42 oligomerizes upon DNA binding. UL42 did not form intermolecular crosslinks upon treatment with glutaraldehyde in the presence of DNA, whereas proteins that are known to be multimers in solution were successfully crosslinked by this treatment. This result suggests that UL42 does not form multimers on DNA. We next analyzed the composition of UL42:DNA complexes using electrophoretic mobility-shift assays. UL42 was mixed with a maltose-binding protein-UL42 fusion protein before being added to DNA. The patterns of electrophoretic mobility of the resultant protein:DNA complexes were those predicted if each isoform of UL42 binds to DNA as a monomer. From this result and the failure of UL42 to form crosslinks, we infer that UL42 binds DNA as a monomer.     

The role of dicarbonyl compounds in non-enzymatic crosslinking: a structure-activity study

The Maillard reaction is a complex network of reactions that has been shown to result in the non-enzymatic crosslinking of proteins. Recent attention has focussed on the role of alpha-dicarbonyl compounds as important in vivo contributors to protein crosslinking but, despite extensive research, the molecular mechanisms of the crosslinking reaction remain open to conjecture. In particular, no relationship between the structure of the carbonyl-containing compounds and their activity as crosslinking agents has been established. In an effort to elucidate a structure-reactivity relationship, a wide range of dicarbonyl compounds, including linear, cyclic, di-aldehyde and di-ketone compounds, were reacted with the model protein ribonuclease A and their crosslinking activity assessed. Methylglyoxal and glutaraldehyde were found to be the most efficient crosslinkers, whilst closely related molecules effected crosslinking at a much lower rate. Cyclopentan-1,2-dione was also shown to be a reactive crosslinking agent. The efficiency of methylglyoxal and glutaraldehyde at crosslinking is thought to be related to their ability to form stable heterocyclic compounds that are the basis of protein crosslinks. The reasons for the striking reactivity of these two compounds, compared to closely related structures is explained by subtle balances between competing pathways in a complex reaction network.     

Modulation of phosphofructokinase behavior by chemical modifications during the immobilization process

Phosphofructokinase was immobilized within a protein membrane or on soluble protein polymers using glutaraldehyde as cross-linking reagent. The native enzyme was also modified chemically, using the cross-linking reagent alone. A comparative kinetic investigation of these preparations was carried out. The catalytic activity of the chemically modified enzyme and its affinity towards fructose 6-phosphate decreased significantly; the modified enzyme lost its cooperative properties and the allosteric regulation by AMP was affected. When the chemical treatment was performed in the presence of effectors (AMP or ATP) the allosteric transition induced by AMP was restored, suggesting that the cross-linking reagent modified the AMP regulatory sites, albeit no higher-substrate-affinity enzyme conformation was frozen. Molecular data showed that glutaraldehyde produced intramolecular then intermolecular bonds as its concentration increased. When the enzyme was immobilized into protein membranes or on soluble polymers, the enzyme behavior was quite similar: decrease of affinity towards fructose 6-phosphate but no changes in cooperative properties and modifications of allosteric transition induced by AMP. When AMP was present during the immobilisation process, the enzyme immobilized in this way was no longer sensitive to effectors, either AMP or ATP. It showed Michaelian behavior and higher substrate affinity quite similar to that of the native enzyme. The data suggested that a higher-substrate-affinity enzymatic form was most probably stabilized by immobilization.     

Influence of polymerization of D-amino acid oxidase on the behavior of the enzyme immobilized on chitosan by covalent fixation

D-Amino-acid oxidase is a flavoprotein using FAD as cofactor. The enzyme has been immobilized in the presence of FAD on a non-porous matrix: chitosan. This support is covalently bound to the enzyme with glutaraldehyde as cross-linking reagent. It is characterized by a good mechanical resistance to mechanical stirring. The enzymatic assays have been performed in batch reactor with D-phenylglycine as substrate by a spectrophotometric method which is based on the variation of the absorbance at 252 or 280 nm. The behaviour of the biocatalysts has been studied during repeated assays of 1 h at 25 degrees C in the absence of exogenous FAD. The experimental results have been compared with those obtained with the soluble enzyme tested in the presence or in the absence of FAD. The dependence of D-amino-acid oxidase on FAD concentration has been studied. Immobilized enzyme on chitosan appears to be less sensitive to the association-dissociation equilibrium of FAD. This property and the capacity of the enzyme to polymerize spontaneously in solution according to the experimental conditions have been established. The fact that the enzyme can exist in various oligomeric forms is of major importance because its catalytic expression is dependent of this phenomenon. The polymerization is known to be responsible for a decrease of the maximal rate V of the enzyme. It has also been shown that in the same way this decrease was accompanied by an improvement of the affinity of enzyme for substrates. Furthermore, the value of the dissociation constant of the apoenzyme-FAD complex is significantly smaller as the degree of polymerization is high. The conclusion is that the dissociation of the cofactor can be avoided if the immobilization step is carried out at high concentration of enzyme which is favourable to its polymerization.     

The structure of glutaraldehyde in aqueous solution determined by ultraviolet absorption and light scattering.

The structure of glutaraldehyde (GA) in aqueous solutions has been the subject of much debate. Since there were fundamental problems in the experiments in the preceding studies, in this article, the structure of GA was investigated with uv absorption and light scattering to avoid those problems. It was discovered that 70% glutaraldehyde solution contains a large quantity of polymeric species with cyclic hemiacetal structure. On dilution, the polymerized glutaraldehyde slowly converted to monomers. In dilute solution, glutaraldehyde is almost monomeric at pH 3-8, the major portion taking the cyclic hemiacetal structure. The structure of GA in 20% solution is similar to that in more dilute solution. alpha, beta-Unsaturated structure does not exist in aqueous solution regardless of the concentration of glutaraldehyde.     

Immobilization and characterization of D-amino acid oxidase.

Optimal conditions with respect to pH, concentration of glutaraldehyde and enzyme, and order of addition of enzyme and crosslinking reagent were established for the immobilization of hog kidney D-amino acid oxidase to an attapulgite support. Yields of 40 to 70% were generally attained although when low concentrations of enzyme were used yields were consistently greater than 100%. It is suggested that this is due to a dimer leads to monomer shift at low protein concentrations. The stability of soluble D-amino acid oxidase was dependent on the buffer in which it was stored (pyrophosphate-phosphate greater than borate greater than Tris). Stability of immobilized enzyme was less than soluble in pyrophosphate-phosphate buffer, but storage in the presence of FAD improved stability. In addition, treatment of stored, immobilized enzyme with FAD before assay restored some of its activity. The immobilized D-amino acid oxidase was less stable to heat (50 degrees C) than the soluble enzyme from pH 6 to 8 but was more stable above and below these values. Apparent Km values for D-alanine, D-valine, and D-tryptophan decreased for the immobilized enzyme compared to the soluble.     

Molecular dissection of the functional domains of a unique, tartrate-resistant, surface membrane acid phosphatase in the primitive human pathogen Leishmania donovani

The primitive trypanosomatid pathogen of humans, Leishmania donovani, constitutively expresses a unique externally oriented, tartrate-resistant, acid phosphatase on its surface membrane. This is of interest because these organisms are obligate intracellular protozoan parasites that reside and multiply within the hydrolytic milieu of mammalian macrophage phago-lysosomes. Here we report the identification of the gene encoding this novel L. donovani enzyme. In addition, we characterized its structure, demonstrated its constitutive expression in both parasite developmental forms, and determined the cell surface membrane localization of its translated protein product. Further, we used a variety of green fluorescent protein chimeric constructs as reporters in a homologous leishmanial expression system to dissect the functional domains of this unique, tartrate-resistant, surface membrane enzyme.     

Characterization of the activity of penicillin G acylase immobilized onto nylon membranes grafted with different acrylic monomers by means of γ-radiation

Penicillin G acylase (PGA) has been immobilized onto nylon membranes grafted with methylmethacrylate (MMA) or diethyleneglycoldimethacrylate (DGDA) monomers by means of γ-radiation. Hexamethylenediamine (HMDA) has been used as spacer between the grafted membranes and the enzyme. Glutaraldehyde (GA) was used as crosslinking to couple the enzyme to the HMDA. The catalytic membranes so prepared were studied as a function of pH and temperature of the solution containing the substrate. The membranes showing the best characteristics were the ones grafted with DGDA. The dependence of the behavior of these membranes on several experimental conditions was studied, i.e., the temperature and duration of the aminoalkylation process, spacer concentration, the glutaraldehyde concentration and the enzyme concentration. The experimental conditions giving the best performance of the catalytic membranes have been deduced. The time requested to obtain 50% of substrate conversion, i.e., hydrolysis of cephalexin, has been studied as a function of its initial concentration.     

Improving the production,activity, and stability of CLEAs with diepoxides

Among enzyme immobilization techniques, the preparation of cross‐linked enzyme aggregates has shown promising results in biocatalysis, because they are easy to prepare, versatile, and cheap. The method involves the precipitation of enzymes with ammonium sulfate or an organic solvent and subsequent cross‐linking with glutaraldehyde. However, the Schiff base produced with glutaraldehyde is reversible and can be broken with acids or bases, releasing proteins to the reaction medium. To solve this problem, we propose replacing glutaraldehyde with diepoxide compounds to obtain an irreversible secondary amine bond. Such a substitution avoids protein leakage during the biocatalytic process, contamination of the final products, and loss of enzyme. It also improves the synthesis of the biocatalyst, because, while the Schiff base is favored at mildly acidic pH, the epoxide reaction can be made at the optimal enzyme pH, assuring its structural stability and catalytic performance. The proposed method has been successfully used in the production and optimization of aldolase epoxy‐cross‐linked aggregates, which retain 98% activity. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers Biotechnol. Prog., 33:1425–1429, 2017     

Enhanced stabilization of mungbean thiol protease immobilized on glutaraldehyde-activated chitosan beads

A thiol protease purified from mungbean seedlings was immobilized on chitosan beads cross-linked with glutaraldehyde. The yield of the immobilized enzyme was maximum (～99%) at 1% concentration each of chitosan and glutaraldehyde. The immobilized enzyme showed reusability for 15 batch reactions. Immobilization shifted the optimum pH of the enzyme to a more acidic range and enhanced its stability both at acidic as well as alkaline pH values compared to the free enzyme. The stability of the enzyme to temperature and in aqueous non-conventional medium (ethanol and DMSO) was significantly improved by the immobilization process. The immobilized enzyme exhibited mass transfer limitation reflected by a higher apparent K_m value. This study produced an immobilized biocatalyst having improved characteristics and better operational stability than the soluble enzyme. The increase in stability in the presence of high concentrations of ethanol and DMSO may make it useful for catalyzing organic reactions such as trans-esterification and trans-amidation similar to other cysteine proteinases.     

Activity and stability of cross-linked tyrosinase aggregates in aqueous and nonaqueous media

Cross-linked tyrosinase aggregates were prepared by precipitating the enzyme with ammonium sulfate and subsequent cross-linking with glutaraldehyde. Both activity and stability of these cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) in aqueous solution, organic solvents, and ionic liquids have been investigated. Immobilization effectively improved the stability of the enzyme in aqueous solution against various deactivating conditions such as pH, temperature, denaturants, inhibitors, and organic solvents. The stability of the CLEAs in various organic solvents such as tert-butanol (t(1/2)=326.7h at 40°C) was significantly enhanced relative to that in aqueous solution (t(1/2)=5.5h). The effect of thermodynamic water activity (a(w)) on the CLEA activity in organic media was examined, demonstrating that the enzyme incorporated into CLEAs required an extensive hydration (with an a(w) approaching 1.0) for optimizing its activity. The impact of ionic liquids on the CLEA activity in aqueous solution was also assessed.     

Glutaraldehyde reactions with alkaline phosphatase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Glutaraldehyde, the biological fixative of choice in the cytochemical localization of the phosphatases, was investigated for its effects on Pseudomonas aeruginosa alkaline phosphatase. Comparative studies on the inactivation of alkaline phosphatase by glutaraldehyde showed significant differences when the purified protein was compared with whole, cell-bound enzyme. The effects of the reagent on the kinetics of the purified enzyme were studied and some conclusions drawn as to the mode of inactivation. The reaction of glutaraldehyde with the cell envelope of P. aeruginosa was also investigated, and it was found not to modify the extraction of lipopolysaccharides from the outer membrane. This study emphasizes the care that must be taken to interpret data, cytochemical or otherwise, obtained when glutaraldehyde is used as a fixative or cross-linking reagent.     

d-Xylopentadialdo-1,4-furanose as a novel bifunctional reagent for enzyme immobilization

The novel bifunctional reagent, d-xylopentadialdo-1,4-furanose, was prepared by the specific oxidation of d-glucose and used for the immobilization of model proteins, such as ovalbumin and subtilisin, onto aminoethylcellulose. The results were compared with that obtained during the immobilization of these proteins to the same support using glutaraldehyde as reagent. As glutaraldehyde and d-xylopentadialdo-1,4-furanose are both dialdehydes, the same pH optima for the binding reaction (near neutrality) were found. The difference between the two reagents was only found in the resulting operational stability. The operational stability was higher in the case of subtilisin bound to aminoethylcellulose using d-xylopentadialdo-1,4-furanose. This is believed to be the result of higher hydrophilicity of the novel bifunctional reagent.     

UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase from Xanthomonas spp. Characterization of the enzyme kinetics, structure and inactivation related to oligomeric dissociation

The genes encoding for UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase in two Xanthomonas spp. were cloned and overexpressed in Escherichia coli. After purification to electrophoretic homogeneity, the recombinant proteins were characterized, and both exhibited similar structural and kinetic properties. They were identified as dimeric proteins of molecular mass 60kDa, exhibiting relatively high specific activity ( approximately 80Units/mg) for UDPglucose synthesis. Both enzymes utilized UTP or TTP as substrate with similar affinity. The purified Xanthomonas enzyme was inactivated after dilution into the assay medium. Studies of crosslinking with the bifunctional lysyl reagent bisuberate suggest that inactivation occurs by enzyme dissociation to monomers. UTP effectively protects the enzyme against inactivation, from which a dissociation constant of 15microM was calculated for the interaction substrate-enzyme. The UTP binding to the enzyme would induce conformational changes in the protein, favoring the subunits interaction to form an active dimer. This view was reinforced by protein modeling of the Xanthomonas enzyme on the basis of the prokaryotic UDPglucose pyrophosphorylase crystallographic structure. The in silico approach pointed out two main critical regions in the enzyme involved in subunit-subunit interaction: the region surrounding the catalytic-substrate binding site and the C-term.     

氨基化硅胶载体固定化纤维素酶的研究

用硅胶作载体,戊二醛作交联剂,制备了固定化的纤维素酶。对制备固定化纤维素酶的偶联剂浓度、pH、给酶量3个影响因素进行了研究,通过正交试验优化得出最佳的固定化条件:交联剂戊二醛浓度为1%,固定化pH值为5,固载量为每克载体100mg纤维素酶。     

Two biosensors for phenolic compounds based on mushroom (Agaricus bisporus) homogenate: comparison in terms of some important parameters of the biosensors

Interest in molecular imprinted polymer techniques has increased because they allows for the improvement of some stability characteristics of enzymes. The high stability of molecularly imprinted enzymes for a substrate can make them ideal alternatives as recognition elements for sensors. A bioimprinted mushroom tissue homogenate biosensor was constructed in a very simple way. For this purpose, sulfite was used. The enzyme, polyphenol oxidase, was first complexed by using a competitive inhibitor, sulfite, in aqueous medium and then the enzyme was immobilized on gelatin by crosslinking with glutaraldehyde on a glass electrode surface. Similarly, polyphenol oxidase uncomplexed with sulfite was also immobilized on a glass electrode in the same conditions. The aim of the study was to compare the two biosensors in terms of their repeatability and thermal, pH, and operational stability; also, the linear ranges of the two biosensors were compared with each other.