Preparation of a robust biocatalyst of d-amino acid oxidase on sepabeads supports using the glutaraldehyde crosslinking method

In this work different protocols to immobilize d-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) on sepabeads were assayed (ionic adsorption on different supports and covalent attachment using glutaraldehyde), studying the stability of the final preparations. The highest stability was achieved by the treatment with glutaraldehyde of DAAO adsorbed on Sepabeads EA (a commercial aminated support having ethylendiamine groups). In fact, this derivative was six times more stable than the enzyme adsorbed only by ionic interaction and much more stable than the soluble enzyme. The effect of the nature of the amino groups in the support was then analyzed. DAAO adsorbed on sepabeads coated with polyethylenimine (PEI) yielded a higher stability than the preparation on Sepabeads EA. The treatment with glutaraldehyde of DAAO adsorbed on Sepabeads PEI yielded the best results in terms of stability, being 200 times more stable than DAAO adsorbed onto Sepabeads EA. The effects of polyethylenimine size and glutaraldehyde concentration were also studied. sepabeads coated with 25 kDa polyethylenimine and treatment with 0.5% glutaraldehyde solution were the optimal parameters regarding the stability (the half life time was 9 h at 56° C, 600 times more stable than the soluble enzyme). Moreover, the optimal derivative showed a maximum load capacity of 15 mg/g of support. This derivative seems to fulfill the requirements for industrial applications.