Olga Abian

Epoxy Sepabeads: A Novel Epoxy Support for Stabilization of Industrial Enzymes via Very Intense Multipoint Covalent Attachment

Sepabeads‐EP (a new epoxy support) has been utilized to immobilize‐stabilize the enzyme penicillin G acylase (PGA) via multipoint covalent attachment. These supports are very robust and suitable for industrial purposes. Also, the internal geometry of the support is composed by cylindrical pores surrounded by the convex surfaces (this offers a good geometrical congruence for reaction with the enzyme), and it has a very high superficial density of epoxy groups (around 100 μmol/mL). These features should permit a very intense enzyme‐support interaction. However, the final stability of the immobilized enzyme is strictly dependent on the immobilization protocol. By using conventional immobilization protocols (neutral pH values, nonblockage of the support) the stability of the immobilized enzyme was quite similar to that achieved using Eupergit C to immobilize the PGA. However, when using a more sophisticated three‐step immobilization/stabilization/blockage procedure, the Sepabeads derivative was hundreds‐fold more stable than Eupergit C derivatives. The protocol used was as follows: (i) the enzyme was first covalently immobilized under very mild experimental conditions (e.g., pH 7.0 and 20 °C); (ii) the already immobilized enzyme was further incubated under more drastic conditions (higher pH values, long incubation periods, etc.) in order to “facilitate” the formation of new covalent linkages between the immobilized enzyme molecule and the support; (iii) the remaining epoxy groups of the support were blocked with very hydrophilic compounds to stop any additional interaction between the enzyme and the support. This third point was found to be critical for obtaining very stable enzymes: derivatives blocked with mercaptoethanol were much less stable than derivatives blocked with glycine or other amino acids. This was attributed to the better masking of the hydrophobicity of the support by the amino acids (having two charges).

Reversible enzyme immobilization via a very strong and nondistorting ionic adsorption on support–polyethylenimine composites

New tailor-made anionic exchange resins have been prepared, based on films of large polyethylenimine polymers (e.g., MW 25,000) completely coating, via covalent immobilization, the surface of different porous supports (agarose, silica, polymeric resins). Most proteins contained in crude extracts from different sources have been very strongly adsorbed on them. Ionic exchange properties of such composites strongly depend on the size of polyethylenimine polymers as well as on the exact conditions of the covalent coating of the solids with the polymer. On the contrary, similar coating protocols yield similar matrices by using different porous supports as starting material. For example, 77% of all proteins contained in crude extracts from Escherichia coli were adsorbed, at low ionic strength, on the best matrices, and less than 15% of the adsorbed proteins were eluted from the support in the presence of 0.3 M NaCl. Under these conditions, 100% of the adsorbed proteins were eluted from conventional DEAE supports. Such polyethylenimine-support composites were also very suitable to perform very strong and nondistorting reversible immobilization of industrial enzymes. For example, lipase from Candida rugosa (CRL), beta-galactosidase from Aspergillus oryzae and D-amino acid oxidase (DAAO) from Rhodotorula gracilis, were adsorbed on such matrices in a few minutes at pH 7.0 and 4 degrees C. Immobilized enzymes preserved 100% of catalytic activity and remained fully immobilized in 0.2 M NaCl. In addition to that, CRL and DAAO were highly stabilized upon immobilization. Stabilization of DAAO, a dimeric enzyme, seems to be due to the involvement of both enzyme subunits in the ionic adsorption.

Stabilization of penicillin G acylase from Escherichia coli: Site-directed mutagenesis of the protein surface to increase multipoint covalent attachment

ABSTRACT Three mutations on the penicillin acylase surface (increasing the number of Lys in a defined area) were performed. They did not alter the enzymes stability and kinetic properties; however, after immobilization on glyoxyl-agarose, the mutant enzyme showed improved stability under all tested conditions (e.g., pH 2.5 at 4°C, pH 5 at 60°C, pH 7 at 55°C, or 60% dimethylformamide), with stabilization factors ranging from 4 to 11 compared with the native enzyme immobilized on glyoxyl-agarose.

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.

New cationic exchanger support for reversible immobilization of proteins

New tailor‐made cationic exchange resins have been prepared by covalently binding aspartic‐dextran polymers (e.g. MW 15 000–20 000) to porous supports (aminated agarose and Sepabeads). More than 80% of the proteins contained in crude extracts from Escherichia coli and Acetobacter turbidans have been strongly adsorbed on these porous materials at pH 5. This interaction was stronger than in conventional carboxymethyl cellulose (e.g., at pH 7 and 25 °C, all proteins previously adsorbed at pH 5 were released from carboxymethyl cellulose, whereas no protein was released from the new supports under similar conditions). Ionic exchange properties of such composites were strongly dependent on the size of the aspartic‐dextran polymers as well as on the exact conditions of the covalent coating of the solids with the polymer (optimal conditions: 100 mg aspartic‐dextran 20 000/(mL of support); room temperature). Finally, some industrially relevant enzymes ( Kluyveromices lactis, Aspergillus oryzae, and Thermus sp. β‐galactosidases, Candida antarctica Blipase, and bovine pancreas trypsin and chymotrypsin) have been immobilized on these supports with very high activity recovery and immobilization rates. After enzyme inactivation, the enzyme can be fully desorbed from the support and the support could be reused for several cycles.

Dendrimers as Potential Inhibitors of the Dimerization of the Capsid Protein of HIV-1

Assembly of the mature human immunodeficiency virus type 1 capsid involves the oligomerization of the capsid protein, CA. The C-terminal domain of CA, CTD, participates both in the formation of CA hexamers and in the joining of hexamers through homodimerization. Intact CA and the isolated CTD are able to homodimerize in solution with similar affinity (dissociation constant in the order of 10 microM); CTD homodimerization involves mainly an alpha-helical region. In this work, we show that first-generation gallic acid-triethylene glycol (GATG) dendrimers bind to CTD. The binding region is mainly formed by residues involved in the homodimerization interface of CTD. The dissociation constant of the dendrimer-CTD complexes is in the range of micromolar, as shown by ITC. Further, the affinity for CTD of some of the dendrimers is similar to that of synthetic peptides capable of binding to the dimerization region, and it is also similar to the homodimerization affinity of both CTD and CA. Moreover, one of the dendrimers, with a relatively large hydrophobic moiety at the dendritic branching (a benzoate), was able to hamper the assembly in vitro of the human immunodeficiency virus capsid. These results open the possibility of considering dendrimers as lead compounds for the development of antihuman immunodeficiency virus drugs targeting capsid assembly.

STABILIZATION OF IMMOBILIZED ENZYMES AGAINST WATER-SOLUBLE ORGANIC COSOLVENTS AND GENERATION OF HYPER- HYDROPHILIC MICRO-ENVIRONMENTS SURROUNDING ENZYME MOLECULES

Enzymes usually undergo rapid inactivation in the presence of organic media. In some cases, the mechanism is quite simple. For example, when an enzyme, fully dispersed and immobilized inside porous supports, is inactivated, at neutral pH and moderate temperature, in the presence of medium-high concentrations of water-miscible organic cosolvents, the unique cause of inactivation is the interaction of the enzyme with cosolvent molecules and the only inactivating effect is the promotion of conformational changes on enzyme structure. On this basis, two distinct strategies for stabilization of enzymes against organic solvents are proposed: a. reduction of the causes of inactivation: generation of hyper-hydrophilic micro-environments having a very open structure and fully surrounding every enzyme molecule; b. reduction of the effects of inactivation: “rigidification of enzymes” via multipoint covalent immobilization. By using penicillin G acylase (PGA) as a model enzyme, both strategies have been evaluated and compared. Both stabilizing strategies had significant effects. In this case, hydrophilization of the enzyme nano-environment was found to be more effective than rigidification of the enzyme via multipoint covalent attachment. The combined effect of both stabilizing strategies was also tested: multipoint covalently immobilized enzyme molecules were completely surrounded by hyper-hydrophilic microenvironments. In this way, native PGA that was unstable against organic cosolvents (completely inactivated in less than 3 min in 95% dioxane) was transformed into a very stable immobilized derivative (preserving more than 80% of activity after 40 days under the same conditions).

Therapeutic Strategies for Gaucher Disease: Miglustat (NB-DNJ) as a Pharmacological Chaperone for Glucocerebrosidase and the Different Thermostability of Velaglucerase Alfa and Imiglucerase

Gaucher disease (GD) is a disorder of glycosphingolipid metabolism caused by deficiency of lysosomal glucocerebrosidase (GlcCerase) activity, due to conformationally or functionally defective variants, resulting in progressive deposition of glycosylceramide in macrophages. The glucose analogue, N-butyldeoxynojirimycin (NB-DNJ, miglustat), is an inhibitor of the ceramide-specific glycosyltransferase, which catalyzes the first step of glycosphingolipid biosynthesis and is currently approved for the oral treatment of type 1 GD. In a previous work, we found a GlcCerase activity increase in cell cultures in the presence of NB-DNJ, which could imply that this compound is not only a substrate reducer but also a pharmacological chaperone or inhibitor for GlcCerase degradation. In this work we compare imiglucerase (the enzyme currently used for replacement therapy) and velaglucerase alfa (a novel therapeutic enzyme form) in terms of conformational stability and enzymatic activity, as well as the effect of NB-DNJ on them. The interaction between these enzymes and NB-DNJ was studied by isothermal titration calorimetry. Our results reveal that, although velaglucerase alfa and imiglucerase exhibit very similar activity profiles, velaglucerase alfa shows higher in vitro thermal stability and is less prone to aggregation/precipitation, which could be advantageous for storage and clinical administration. In addition, we show that at neutral pH NB-DNJ binds to and enhances the stability of both enzymes, while at mildly acidic lysosomal conditions it does not bind to them. These results support the potential role of NB-DNJ as a pharmacological chaperone, susceptible of being part of pharmaceutical formulation or combination therapy for GD in the future.

Improving the Industrial Production of 6-APA: Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Penicillin G in the Presence of Organic Solvents

The hydrolysis of penicillin G in the presence of an organic solvent, used with the purpose of extracting it from the culture medium, may greatly simplify the industrial preparation of 6‐APA. However, under these conditions, PGA immobilized onto Eupergit displays very low stability (half‐life of 5 h in butanone‐saturated water) and a significant degree of inhibition by the organic solvent (30%). The negative effect of the organic solvent strongly depended on the type of solvent utilized: water saturated with butanone (around 28% v/v) had a much more pronounced negative effect than that of methylisobutyl ketone (MIBK) (solubility in water was only 2%). These problems were sorted out by using a new penicillin G acylase derivative designed to work in the presence of organic solvents (with each enzyme molecule surrounded by an hydrophilic artificial environment) and a suitable organic solvent (MIBK). Using such solvent, this derivative kept its activity unaltered for 1 week at 32 °C. Moreover, the enzyme activity was hardly inhibited by the presence of the organic solvent. In this way, the new enzyme derivative thus prepared enables simplification of the industrial hydrolysis of penicillin G.