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Cross-linked enzyme aggregates of papain were prepared in commercial macroporous silica gel (CLEAs-MSG) in order to improve the operability and mechanical stability of CLEAs. CLEAs-MSG was obtained from simple adsorption, precipitation and one-step-cross-linking. CLEAs-MSG was characterized by stable structure that did not leak out enzyme from the macropores because of covalent bonding between CLEAs and MSG. The optimal temperature of papain CLEAs in MSG was 40–90 °C and the optimal pH was 7.0, which were improved compared to free papain and CLEAs. The CLEAs-MSG also enhanced the storage stability and thermal stability. Moreover, the CLEAs-MSG exhibited good reusability due to its suitable size and active properties. By using CLEAs-MSG of papain as biocatalyst, the kinetically controlled z-Ala-Gln synthesis was achieved with the yield of 32.9%, which was almost equal to that by using free papain as biocatalyst.

An important nutritional dipeptide precursor, benzoyloxycarbonyl protected L-alanyl-L-glutamine (Z-Ala-Gln), was successfully prepared through a kinetically controlled enzymatic peptide synthesis method. A commercially available and low-cost protease (papain) was used as biocatalyst with Z-Ala-OMe and Gln as acyl donor and nucleophile, respectively. The dipeptide yield was 35.5% under the optimized reaction conditions: 35°C, pH 9.5, and the ratio of acyl donor/nucleophile is 1:10. Based on the reaction mechanism and experimental data, the kinetic model was established, which was in accordance with the Michaelis-Menten equation, and the apparent Michaelis constant K(m)(app) and the apparent maximum reaction rate r(max)(app) were calculated as 1.71 mol/L and 6.09 mmol/(L Min), respectively.

Porous cross-linked enzyme aggregates (p-CLEAs) were prepared by adding starch as a pore-making agent, which facilitates CLEAs in cases where the substrates of enzyme are macromolecules. This novel strategy for preparation of p-CLEAs involves co-precipitation, cross-linking and removal of starch by α-amylase. The resulting papain p-CLEAs were characterized by scanning electron microscope (SEM) images, showing a porous structure. The 95.9% and 90.4% increased catalytic efficiencies of p-CLEAs than conventional CLEAs on bovine serum albumin (BSA) and ovalbumin verified the feasibility of this protocol.