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A combined strategy of computational, protein engineering and cross-linked enzyme aggregates (CLEAs) approaches was performed on Bacillus lehensis G1 maltogenic amylase (Mag1) to investigate the preferred amino acids and orientation of the cross-linker in constructing stable and efficient biocatalyst. From the computational analysis, Mag1 exhibited the highest binding affinity towards chitosan (-7.5 kcal/mol) and favours having interactions with aspartic acid whereas glutaraldehyde was the least favoured (-3.4 kcal/mol) and has preferences for lysine. A total of eight Mag1 variants were constructed with either Asp or Lys substitutions on different secondary structures surface. Mutant Mag1-mDh exhibited the highest recovery activity (82.3%) in comparison to other Mag1 variants. Mutants-CLEAs exhibited higher thermal stability (20-30% activity) at 80 °C whilst Mag1-CLEAs could only retain 9% of activity at the same temperature. Reusability analysis revealed that mutants-CLEAs can be recovered up to 8 cycles whereas Mag1-CLEAs activity could only be retained for up to 6 cycles. Thus, it is evident that amino acids on the enzyme's surface play a crucial role in the construction of highly stable, efficient and recyclable CLEAs. This demonstrates the necessity to determine the preferential amino acid by the cross-linkers in advance to facilitate CLEAs immobilisation for designing efficient biocatalysts.

Ionic liquids (ILs) have evolved as a new type of non-aqueous solvents for biocatalysis, mainly due to their unique and tunable physical properties. A number of recent review papers have described a variety of enzymatic reactions conducted in IL solutions, on the other hand, to improve the enzyme's activity and stability in ILs; major methods being explored include the enzyme immobilization (on solid support, sol-gel, etc.), protic ionic liquids used as an additive process. The immobilization of the lipase from Burkholderia cepacia by the sol-gel technique using protic ionic liquids (PIL) as additives to protect against inactivation of the lipase due to release of alcohol and shrinkage of the gel during the sol-gel process was investigated in this study. The influence of various factors such as the length of the alkyl chain of protic ionic liquids (monoethanolamine-based) and a concentration range between 0.5 and 3.0% (w/v) were evaluated. The resulting hydrophobic matrices and immobilized lipases were characterised with regard to specific surface area, adsorption-desorption isotherms, pore volume (V-p) and size (d(p)) according to nitrogen adsorption and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), physico-chemical properties (thermogravimetric - TG, differential scanning calorimetry - DSC and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy - FTIR) and the potential for ethyl ester and emulsifier production. The total activity yields (Y-a) for matrices of immobilized lipase employing protic ionic liquids as additives always resulted in higher values compared with the sample absent the protic ionic liquids, which represents 35-fold increase in recovery of enzymatic activity using the more hydrophobic protic ionic liquids. Compared with arrays of the immobilized biocatalyst without additive, in general, the immobilized biocatalyst in the presence of protic ionic liquids showed increased values of surface area (143-245 m(2) g(-1)) and pore size (19-38 angstrom). Immobilization with protic ionic liquids also favoured reduced mass loss according to TG curves (always less than 42.9%) when compared to the immobilized matrix without protic ionic liquids (45.1%), except for the sample containing 3.0% protic ionic liquids (46.5%), verified by thermogravimetric analysis. Ionic liquids containing a more hydrophobic alkyl group in the cationic moiety were beneficial for recovery of the activity of the immobilized lipase. The physico-chemical characterization confirmed the presence of the enzyme and its immobilized derivatives obtained in this study by identifying the presence of amino groups, and profiling enthalpy changes of mass loss. (c) 2013 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

To create compatible interface for enzyme immobilization, the surface of multi-walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) was functionalized using soft technique dielectric barrier discharge plasma (DBDP) for carboxylation and amination; followed by further amidation of carboxyl group with alkylamine. Successful functionalization and enzyme immobilization were structurally confirmed using spectroscopic analysis Fourier-Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS). The immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) on functionalized MWCNTs was evidenced by clearly viewing with Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) imaging. CRL showed more Freundlich equilibrium behavior upon immobilization on annealed and octadecylamidated MWCNTs, which suggested a multilayer adsorption; while upon physical adsorption on aminated and carboxylated MWCNTs, CRL, to more extent, demonstrated a Langmuir equilibrium property, producing an enzyme monolayer. It was proven that DBDP-mediated surface-functionalization could create compatible microenvironments for enzyme immobilization, resulted in improved specific activity and thermostability. The immobilized CRL on octadecylamidated MWCNTs displayed excellent reusability and operation stability, indicating its potential for industrial application. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Water-in-ionic liquid (w/IL) microemulsions formulated with non-ionic surfactants, (Tween 20 or Triton X-100) in 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium hexafluorophosphate ([bmim]PF(6)), were used as media for lipase-catalyzed esterification reactions. The catalytic behavior and stability of lipases from Candida rugosa, Chromobacterium viscosum and Thermomyces lanuginosa in these novel microemulsions were investigated and compared to other microheterogeneous media used so far for enzyme-catalyzed reactions. The catalytic behavior of the enzymes depends strongly on the surfactant concentration and the water content. The dependence of the esterification activity of lipases on molar ratio of water to surfactant (w(o)) follows a bell-shaped profile, presenting a maximum at w(o) approximate to 5. The operational stability of lipases in w/IL microemulsions, especially at high incubation temperature (50 degrees C), was significantly increased compared to that observed in other microheterogeneous media. The highest half-life times (>100 h) were obtained in w/IL microemulsions with low water content. Conformational studies via Fourier transform-infrared (FT-IR) and circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy indicated that lipases entrapped in w/IL microemulsions in most cases retain their native structure or adapt a more rigid structure compared to other microheterogeneous media, which correlated well with the stability results. A simple procedure suitable for ester separation and enzyme reuse was developed. T lanuginosa lipase retained 90% of activity after ten reaction cycles in w/IL microemulsions formulated with Tween 20. (C) 2009 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Journal of Molecular Catalysis B-Enzymatic