Jose M. Palomo

Immobilization of enzymes on heterofunctional epoxy supports

Immobilization of enzymes and proteins on activated supports permits the simplification of the reactor design and may be used to improve some enzyme properties. In this sense, supports containing epoxy groups seem to be useful to generate very intense multipoint covalent attachment with different nucleophiles placed on the surface of enzyme molecules (e.g., amino, thiol, hydroxyl groups). However, the intermolecular reaction between epoxy groups and soluble enzymes is extremely slow. To solve this problem, we have designed “tailor-made” heterofunctional epoxy supports. Using these, immobilization of enzymes is performed via a two-step process: (i) an initial physical or chemical intermolecular interaction of the enzyme surface with the new functional groups introduced on the support surface and (ii) a subsequent intense intramolecular multipoint covalent reaction between the nucleophiles of the already immobilized enzyme and the epoxy groups of the supports. The first immobilization may involve different enzyme regions, which will be further rigidified by multipoint covalent attachment. The design of some heterofunctional epoxy supports and the performance of the immobilization protocols are described here. The whole protocol to have an immobilized and stabilized enzyme could take from 3 days to 1 week.

General Trend of Lipase to Self-Assemble Giving Bimolecular Aggregates Greatly Modifies the Enzyme Functionality

Three microbial lipases (those from Candida rugosa, Humicola lanuginosa, and Mucor miehei) have been found to exhibit a tendency to form bimolecular aggregates in solution even at very low enzyme concentrations (44 microg/mL) in the absence of a detergent, as detected by gel filtration. The monomolecular form of the enzymes was found as unique only at low enzyme concentration and in the presence of detergents. However, in the case of the lipase B from Candida antarctica, no bimolecular form could be identified even at enzyme concentrations as high as 1.2 mg/mL in the absence of detergent. It has been stated that bimolecular and monomolecular structures display very different functional properties: (i) the enzyme specific activity decreased when the lipase concentration increased; (ii) the bimolecular form was much more stable than the monomeric one yielding a higher optimal T (increasing between 5 and 10 degrees C) and higher stability in inactivation experiments (the dimer half-life became several orders of magnitude higher than that of the monomer); (iii) the enantioselectivity depended on the enzyme concentration even after immobilization. For example, with use of the lipase from H. lanuginosa, the enantiomeric excess of the remaining ester in the hydrolysis of fully soluble ethyl ester of (R,S)-2-hydroxy-4-phenylbutanoic acid varied from 4 to 57 when the concentrated or diluted enzyme immobilized on PEI support, respectively, was used. It seems that the bimolecular structure of lipases might be formed by two open lipase molecules (interfacially activating each other) in very close contact and hence with a very altered active center.

Activation of Bacterial Thermoalkalophilic Lipases is Spurred by Dramatic Structural Rearrangements.

The bacterial thermoalkalophilic lipases that hydrolyze saturated fatty acids at 60–75 °C and pH 8–10 are grouped as the lipase family I.5. We report here the crystal structure of the lipase from Geobacillus thermocatenulatus, the first structure of a member of the lipase family I.5 showing an open configuration. Unexpectedly, enzyme activation involves large structural rearrangements of around 70 amino acids and the concerted movement of two lids, the α6- and α7-helices, unmasking the active site. Central in the restructuring process of the lids are both the transfer of bulky hydrophobic residues out of the N-terminal end of the α6-helix and the incorporation of short side chain residues to the α6 C-terminal end. All these structural changes are stabilized by the Zn2+-binding domain, which is characteristic of this family of lipases. Two detergent molecules are placed in the active site, mimicking chains of the triglyceride substrate, demonstrating the position of the oxyanion hole and the three pockets that accommodate the sn-1, sn-2, and sn-3 fatty acids chains. The combination of structural and biochemical studies indicate that the lid opening is not mediated by temperature but triggered by interaction with lipid substrate.

Modulation of the enantioselectivity of Candida antarctica B lipase via conformational engineering. Kinetic resolution of (±)-α-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid derivatives

Abstract The modulation, via immobilization and engineering the reaction medium, of the enantioselectivity exhibited by the lipase from Candida antarctica B (CABL) in the hydrolysis of α-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid derivatives is shown. The enzyme was purified and immobilized using different protocols to obtain immobilized enzyme preparations with different orientations and micro-environments. The catalytic properties (activity, specificity, enantioselectivity) of the resulting derivatives were found to be quite different from each other. The enantioselectivity ( E value) strongly depends on the type of derivative and the conditions employed. Thus, the enzyme immobilized on cyanogen bromide (CNBr) presented E =7.4, while the PEI derivative yielded E =67 in the hydrolysis of α-hydroxy-phenylacetic acid methyl ester under similar conditions. Moreover, the enantioselectivity of the PEI derivative decreased from 67 to 14 on lowering the reaction temperature from 25 to 4°C at pH 5, while the E of some other derivatives improved significantly under similar experimental changes. Similar changes in the E values were observed in the hydrolysis of ( RS )-2-butyroyl-2-phenylacetic acid. Using this substrate, the interfacially adsorbed enzyme (octadecyl) afforded an E value of only 2 at pH 5, while the glutaraldehyde derivative presented a high enantioselectivity ( E >400) under all conditions studied. The corresponding ( S )-ester and ( R )-acid were obtained with excellent enantiomeric excess using the glutaraldehyde derivative, while using the interfacially immobilized one there was no appreciable enantioselectivity. Thus, using differently immobilized derivatives and different experimental conditions, lipase enantioselectivity could vary from negligible to up to 400. The experimental conditions were also found to have varying effects on the different lipase derivatives.

Solid-phase chemical amination of a lipase from Bacillus thermocatenulatus to improve its stabilization via covalent immobilization on highly activated glyoxyl-agarose.

In this paper, the stabilization of a lipase from Bacillus thermocatenulatus (BTL2) by a new strategy is described. First, the lipase is selectively adsorbed on hydrophobic supports. Second, the carboxylic residues of the enzyme are modified with ethylenediamine, generating a new enzyme having 4-fold more amino groups than the native enzyme. The chemical amination did not present a significant effect on the enzyme activity and only reduced the enzyme half-life by a 3-4-fold factor in inactivations promoted by heat or organic solvents. Next, the aminated and purified enzyme is desorbed from the support using 0.2% Triton X-100. Then, the aminated enzyme was immobilized on glyoxyl-agarose by multipoint covalent attachment. The immobilized enzyme retained 65% of the starting activity. Because of the lower p K of the new amino groups in the enzyme surface, the immobilization could be performed at pH 9 (while the native enzyme was only immobilized at pH over 10). In fact, the immobilization rate was higher at this pH value for the aminated enzyme than that of the native enzyme at pH 10. The optimal stabilization protocol was the immobilization of aminated BTL2 at pH 9 and the further incubation for 24 h at 25 degrees C and pH 10. This preparation was 5-fold more stable than the optimal BTL2 immobilized on glyoxyl agarose and around 1200-fold more stable than the enzyme immobilized on CNBr and further aminated. The catalytic properties of BTL2 could be greatly modulated by the immobilization protocol. For example, from (R/S)-2- O-butyryl-2-phenylacetic acid, one preparation of BTL2 could be used to produce the S-isomer, while other preparation produced the R-isomer.

Purification, Immobilization, and Stabilization of a Lipase from Bacillus thermocatenulatus by Interfacial Adsorption on Hydrophobic Supports

A lipase from Bacillus thermocatenulatus (BTL2) cloned in E. coli has been purified using a very simple method: interfacial activation on a hydrophobic support followed by desorption with Triton. Only one band was detected by SDS‐PAGE. The pure enzyme was immobilized using different methodologies. BTL2 adsorbed on a hydrophobic support (octadecyl‐Sepabeads) exhibited a hyperactivation with respect to the soluble enzyme, whereas the other immobilized preparations suffered a slight decrease in the expressed activity. The soluble enzyme was very stable, but all immobilized preparations were much more stable than the soluble enzyme, the octadecyl‐Sepabeads‐BTL2 preparation being the most stable one in all conditions (high temperature or in the presence of organic cosolvents), maintaining 100% of the activity at 65 °C or 30% of dioxane and 45 °C after several days of incubation. The glyoxyl preparation, the second more stable, retained 80% of the initial activity after 2 days, respectively. The adsorption of this thermophilic lipase on octadecyl‐Sepabeads permitted an increase in the optimal temperature of the enzyme of 10 °C.

A Novel Heterofunctional Epoxy‐Amino Sepabeads for a New Enzyme Immobilization Protocol: Immobilization‐Stabilization of β‐Galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae

The properties of a new and commercially available amino‐epoxy support (amino‐epoxy‐Sepabeads) have been compared to conventional epoxy supports to immobilize enzymes, using the β‐galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae as a model enzyme. The new support has a layer of epoxy groups over a layer of ethylenediamine that is covalently bound to the support. This support has both a great anionic exchanger strength and a high density of epoxy groups. Epoxy supports require the physical adsorption of the proteins onto the support before the covalent binding of the enzyme to the epoxy groups. Using conventional supports the immobilization rate is slow, because the adsorption is of hydrophobic nature, and immobilization must be performed using high ionic strength (over 0.5 M sodium phosphate) and a support with a fairly hydrophobic nature. Using the new support, immobilization may be performed at moderately low ionic strength, it occurs very rapidly, and it is not necessary to use a hydrophobic support. Therefore, this support should be specially recommended for immobilization of enzymes that cannot be submitted to high ionic strength. Also, both supports may be expected to yield different orientations of the proteins on the support, and that may result in some advantages in specific cases. For example, the model enzyme became almost fully inactivated when using the conventional support, while it exhibited an almost intact activity after immobilization on the new support. Furthermore, enzyme stability was significantly improved by the immobilization on this support (by more than a 12‐fold factor), suggesting the promotion of some multipoint covalent attachment between the enzyme and the support (in fact the enzyme adsorbed on an equivalent cationic support without epoxy groups was even slightly less stable than the soluble enzyme).

Reversible Immobilization of Invertase on Sepabeads Coated with Polyethyleneimine: Optimization of the Biocatalyst's Stability

Invertase from S. cerevisiae has been immobilized by ionic adsorption on Sepabeads fully coated with PEI. The enzyme was strongly adsorbed on the support (no desorption of the invertase was found under conditions in which all of the enzyme was released from conventional anionic exchanger supports (e.g., DEAE‐agarose)). Nevertheless, the enzyme could still be desorbed after its inactivation, and new fresh enzyme could be adsorbed on the supports without detrimental effects on enzyme loading. This is a multimeric enzyme, its minimal oligomerization active state being the dimer, but under certain conditions of pH and concentration it may give larger multimers. Very interestingly, results suggested that the adsorption of the enzyme on this large and flexible polymeric bed was able to freeze some of the different oligomeric structures of the enzyme. Thus, we have found that the enzyme immobilized at certain pH values (pH 8.5) and high enzyme concentration, in which the main enzyme structure is the tetramer, was more stable than immobilized preparations produced in conditions under which oligomerization was not favorable (dimers at low enzyme concentration) or it was too high (e.g., hexamers‐octamers at low pH value). The optimal enzyme preparation remained fully active after a 15‐day incubation at 50 °C and pH 4.5 (conditions of standard industrial use) and presented an optimal temperature approximately 5 °C higher than that of soluble enzyme.

Reversible and Strong Immobilization of Proteins by Ionic Exchange on Supports Coated with Sulfate-Dextran

New and strong ionic exchange resins have been prepared by the simple and rapid ionic adsorption of anionic polymers (sulfate‐dextran) on porous supports activated with the opposite ionic group (DEAE/MANAE). Ionic exchange properties of such composites were strongly dependent on the size of the ionic polymers as well as on the conditions of the ionic coating of the solids with the ionic polymers (optimal conditions were 400 mg of sulfate‐dextran 5000 kDa per gram of support). Around 80% of the proteins contained in crude extracts from Escherichia coli and Acetobacter turbidans could be adsorbed on these porous composites even at pH 7. This interaction was stronger than that using conventional carboxymethyl cellulose (CMC) and even others such as supports coated with aspartic‐dextran polymer. By means of the sequential use of the new supports and supports coated with polyethyleneimine (PEI), all proteins from crude extracts could be immobilized. In fact, a large percentage (over 50%) could be immobilized on both supports. Finally, some industrially relevant enzymes (β‐galactosidases from Aspergillus oryzae, Kluyveromyces lactis, and Thermus sp. strain T2, lipases from Candida antarctica A and B, Candida rugosa, Rhizomucor miehei, and Rhyzopus oryzae and bovine pancreas trypsin and chymotrypsin) have been immobilized on these supports with very high activity recoveries and immobilization rates. After enzyme inactivation, the protein could be fully desorbed from the support, and then the support could be reused for several cycles. Moreover, in some instances the enzyme stability was significantly improved, mainly in the presence of organic solvents, perhaps as a consequence of the highly hydrophilic microenvironment of the support.

Preparation of artificial hyper-hydrophilic micro-environments (polymeric salts) surrounding enzyme molecules: New enzyme derivatives to be used in any reaction medium

Abstract Although enzymes usually undergo rapid inactivations in the presence of organic media, the mechanism of these inactivations is often quite simple. An immobilized enzyme, fully dispersed inside porous supports, incubated in the presence of medium–high concentrations of water-miscible organic cosolvents under mild conditions, is mainly inactivated by the interaction of the enzyme with cosolvent molecules. Thus, the only inactivating effect is the promotion of conformational changes on enzyme structure. In this paper, we propose an optimized strategy to stabilize immobilized enzymes against the presence of organic solvent: the generation of a hyper-hydrophilic shell surrounding each individual protein molecule by using several layers of different polymers. We have optimized different variables, such as the size of the polymers, the number of polymer layers, the correct assembly of the hydrophilization protocol, etc. After building a shell formed by different layers of polyethylenimine and dextran aldehyde, the addition of dextran sulfate promoted a qualitative increase in the enzyme stability. As an example, penicillin G acylase (PGA) has been immobilized-stabilized on Sepabeads (a rigid support that does not swell when changed from aqueous to anhydrous media), and the protocol to hydrophilize the protein nano-environment has been applied. This protocol originates derivatives able to stand even 90% of dioxane without significant losses of activity after several days, while conventional derivatives were readily inactivated under these conditions.