Purification and characterization of an organic solvent and detergent‐tolerant novel protease produced by Bacillus sp. RKY3

BACKGROUND: Purification and characterization of a novel protease produced by Bacillus sp. RKY3, has been investigated, with special emphasis on the stability of the enzyme in the presence of different oxidizing and reducing agents as well as organic solvents. The enzyme was purified in two steps through concentration of the crude enzyme by ammonium sulfate precipitation, followed by anion exchange chromatography. RESULTS: The purified protease had a molecular mass of approximately 38 kDa, which was highly active over a broad range of pH between 7.0 and 9.0 and was also stable over a wide pH range from 5.0 to 11.0. Although the optimum temperature for enzyme activity was found to be 60 °C, it was rapidly deactivated at temperatures above 60 °C. It also showed good stability at 50 °C, with a 70 min half‐life. Ca²⁺ ions did not greatly enhance the activity or the stability of the enzyme. PMSF (1 mmol L^?1) completely inhibited the protease activity, and thus the purified protease was considered to be serine protease. The purified protease was stable with oxidants (H₂O₂, 2%), reducing agents (sodium dodecyl sulfate, 2%), and organic solvents (25%) such as benzene, hexane, and toluene. CONCLUSION: The purified enzyme, protease, seems to possess potential applications in protease‐based detergent and bleaching industries. The enzymatic activity against a wide variety of substrates suggests that the purified enzyme should be investigated for a range of commercial applications, especially for soy protein and gelatin hydrolysis in the food processing industry. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Detergent Compatible Extracellular Lipase from Streptomyces cellulosae AU‐10: A Green Alternative for the Detergent Industry

Enzymes can decrease the environmental and economic load of detergent products by reducing the amount of chemicals used in detergents and by allowing washing at ambient temperatures. In this study, Streptomyces cellulosae AU‐10 (GenBank accession number: MG780240) lipase was purified 7.08‐fold with 68% yield using an aqueous 2‐phase system. The Streptomyces sp. AU‐10 lipase showed maximal activity at pH 9.0 and 40 °C. Hundred percent activities were measured in the pH range from 9.0 to 11.0 for 1 h. The enzyme was also highly stable at 30–50 °C. The values of K_m and V_max were calculated as 0.34 mM and 0.83 mM min^?1, respectively. The lipase has high hydrolytic activity for olive oil and sunflower oil. The effect of ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid on the enzyme has shown that the lipase is a metalloenzyme. The activity increased in the presence of Fe²⁺, Cu²⁺, and various boron compounds. The enzyme has shown a good stability not only with surfactants but also with oxidizing agents. In addition, activities in the presence of Omo, Ariel, Tursil, Pril, and Fairy were measured as 108.8%, 115.6%, 98.35%, 140.4%, and 107.6%, respectively. Considering its remarkable ability, the S. cellulosae AU‐10 lipase can be considered as a potential additive in the detergent industry.     

Purification and characterization of solvent‐tolerant,thermostable, alkaline metalloprotease from alkalophilic Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 7926

BACKGROUND: Microbial proteases are becoming imperative for commercial applications. The protease secreted by Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 7926, isolated from solvent‐contaminated habitat was purified and characterized for activity at various edaphic conditions. The purified alkaline protease was investigated for dehairing of animal skin, anti‐staphylococcal activity and processing of X‐ray film. RESULTS: The protease was 24‐fold purified by ammonium sulfate fractionation, sephadex G‐100 gel filtration and DEAE‐cellulose, with 36% recovery. K_M and V_max, using casein were 2.94 mg mL^?1 and 1.27 µmole min^?1, respectively. The apparent molecular mass by SDS‐PAGE was 35 kDa. Alkaline protease was active at pH 6–11 and temperature 25–65 °C. Its activity was (a) 86.8% in 100 mmol L^?1 NaCl, (b) >95% in metal ions (Mn²⁺, Ca²⁺, Mg²⁺, Fe²⁺) for 1 h, (c) >90% in bleaching agents and chemical surfactants, (d) 135.4 ± 2.0% and 119.9 ± 6.2% with rhamnolipid and cyclodextrin, respectively, (e) stable in solvents for 5–30 days at 27 °C, and (f) inhibited by EDTA, indicating metalloprotein. CONCLUSION: This work showed that purified protease retained its activity in surfactants, solvents, metals, and bleaching agents. The enzyme is an alternative for detergent formulations, dehairing of animal skin, X‐ray film processing, treatment of staphylococcal infections and possibly non‐aqueous enzymatic peptide synthesis. Copyright © 2009 Society of Chemical Industry     

Chitosaneous hydrogel beads for immobilizing neutral protease for application in the preparation of low molecular weight chitosan and chito‐oligomers

Enzyme hydrolysis with immobilized neutral protease was carried out to produce low molecular weight chitosan (LMWC) and chito‐oligomers. Neutral protease was immobilized on (CS), carboxymethyl chitosan (CMCS), and N‐succinyl chitosan (NSCS) hydrogel beads. The properties of free and immobilized neutral proteases on chitosaneous hydrogel beads were investigated and compared. Immobilization enhanced enzyme stability against changes in pH and temperature. When the three different enzyme supports were compared, the neutral protease immobilized on CS hydrogel beads had the highest thermal stability and storage stability, and the enzyme immobilized on NSCS hydrogel beads had the highest activity compared to those immobilized on the other supports, despite its lower protein loading. Immobilized neutral protease on all the three supports had a higher K_m (Michaelis‐Menten constant) than free enzyme. The V_max (maximum reaction velocity) value of neutral protease immobilized on CS hydrogel beads was lower than the free enzyme, whereas the V_max values of enzyme immobilized on CMCS and NSCS hydrogel beads were higher than that of the free enzyme. Immobilized neutral protease on CS, CMCS, and NSCS hydrogel beads retained 70.4, 78.2, and 82.5% of its initial activity after 10 batch hydrolytic cycles. The activation energy decreased for the immobilization of neutral protease on chitosaneous hydrogel beads. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 3743–3750, 2006     

Poly(hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate) reactive membrane utilised for cholesterol oxidase immobilisation

Poly(2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate‐co‐glycidyl methacrylate) p(HEMA–GMA) membrane was prepared by UV‐initiated photopolymerisation of 2‐hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA) and glycidyl methacrylate (GMA) in the presence of an initiator, azobisisobutyronitrile (AIBN). Cholesterol oxidase was immobilised directly on the membrane by forming covalent bonds between its amino groups and the epoxide groups of the membrane. An average of 53 µg of enzyme was immobilised per cm² of membrane, and the bound enzyme retained about 67% of its initial activity. Immobilisation improved the pH stability of the enzyme as well as its temperature stability. The optimum temperature was 5 °C higher than that of the free enzyme and was significantly broader. The thermal inactivation rate constants for free and immobilised preparations at 70 °C were calculated as k_{i (free)} 1.06 × 10^?1 min^?1 and k_{i (imm)} 2.68 × 10^?2 min^?1, respectively. The immobilised enzyme activity was found to be quite stable in the repeated experiments. © 2002 Society of Chemical Industry     

Production of thermostable alkaline lipase on vegetable oils from a thermophilic Bacillus sp. DH4, characterization and its potential applications as detergent additive

BACKGROUND: The alkaline lipase production on vegetable oils as sole carbon source, its characterization and effect of different commercial detergents and surfactants on enzymatic activity from thermophilic Bacillus sp. DH4 was investigated. RESULTS: The organism grew on mannose, but the amount of lipase secreted was significantly less than on vegetable oils. This study identified a simple substrate for lipase production and established the utility of groundnut oil for increasing the lipase yield. The enzyme was compatible with various ionic and non‐ionic surfactants as well as commercial detergents. Lipase activity was strongly inhibited by sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), but not by Triton X‐100 or Triton X‐114. The best assay conditions observed for this lipase was found to be pH 9.0 and 50 °C. The enzyme was stable at alkaline pH and considerable activity was observed at pH 10 and it retained 93% of the residual activity at 60 °C. The lipase showed a novel property of marked activation at alkaline pH. Wash performance analysis of commercial detergent for removal of fatty stains improved upon addition of lipase. CONCLUSION: The production on cheap vegetable oils, novel properties and resistance towards various surfactants and tolerance to commercial detergents make this lipase a potential additive for detergent formulations. Significance and impact of the study: Bacillus sp. produces alkaline and thermostable lipase on cheap vegetable oils and its compatibility can find use in the detergent industry. Copyright © 2008 Society of Chemical Industry     

Immobilization of invertase onto dimer acid‐co‐alkyl polyamine

Invertase was immobilized onto the dimer acid‐co‐alkyl polyamine after activation with 1,2‐diamine ethane and 1,3‐diamine propane. The effects of pH, temperature, substrate concentration, and storage stability on free and immobilized invertase were investigated. Kinetic parameters were calculated as 18.2 mM for K_m and 6.43 × 10^?5 mol dm^?3 min^?1 for V_max of free enzyme and in the range of 23.8–35.3 mM for K_m and 7.97–11.71 × 10^?5 mol dm^?3 min^?1 for V_max of immobilized enzyme. After storage at 4°C for 1 month, the enzyme activities were 21.0 and 60.0–70.0% of the initial activity for free and immobilized enzyme, respectively. The optimum pH values for free and immobilized enzymes were determined as 4.5. The optimum temperatures for free and immobilized enzymes were 45 and 50°C, respectively. After using immobilized enzyme in 3 days for 43 times, it showed 76–80% of its original activity. As a result of immobilization, thermal and storage stabilities were increased. The aim of this study was to increase the storage stability and reuse number of the immobilized enzyme and also to compare this immobilization method with others with respect to storage stability and reuse number. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 93: 1526–1530, 2004     

Design of gem‐Difluoro‐bis‐Tetrahydrofuran as P2 Ligand for HIV‐1 Protease Inhibitors to Improve Brain Penetration: Synthesis,X‐ray Studies,and Biological Evaluation

The structure‐based design, synthesis, biological evaluation, and X‐ray structural studies of fluorine‐containing HIV‐1 protease inhibitors are described. The synthesis of both enantiomers of the gem‐difluoro‐bis‐THF ligands was carried out in a stereoselective manner using a Reformatskii–Claisen reaction as the key step. Optically active ligands were converted into protease inhibitors. Two of these inhibitors, (3R,3aS,6aS)‐4,4‐difluorohexahydrofuro[2,3‐b]furan‐3‐yl(2S,3R)‐3‐hydroxy‐4‐((N‐isobutyl‐4‐methoxyphenyl)sulfonamido)‐1‐phenylbutan‐2‐yl) carbamate ( 3 ) and (3R,3aS,6aS)‐4,4‐difluorohexahydrofuro[2,3‐b]furan‐3‐yl(2S,3R)‐3‐hydroxy‐4‐((N‐isobutyl‐4‐aminophenyl)sulfonamido)phenylbutan‐2‐yl) carbamate ( 4 ), exhibited HIV‐1 protease inhibitory K_i values in the picomolar range. Both 3 and 4 showed very potent antiviral activity, with respective EC₅₀ values of 0.8 and 3.1 nM against the laboratory strain HIV‐1_LAI. The two inhibitors exhibited better lipophilicity profiles than darunavir, and also showed much improved blood–brain barrier permeability in an in vitro model. A high‐resolution X‐ray structure of inhibitor 4 in complex with HIV‐1 protease was determined, revealing that the fluorinated ligand makes extensive interactions with the S2 subsite of HIV‐1 protease, including hydrogen bonding interactions with the protease backbone atoms. Moreover, both fluorine atoms on the bis‐THF ligand formed strong interactions with the flap Gly 48 carbonyl oxygen atom.     

Covalent immobilization of trypsin onto thermo‐sensitive poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐acrylic acid) microspheres with high activity and stability

Poly(N‐isopropylacrylamide‐co‐acrylic acid) (P(NIPAM‐co‐AA)) microspheres with a high copolymerized AA content were fabricated using rapid membrane emulsification technique. The uniform size, good hydrophilicity, and thermo sensitivity of the microspheres were favorable for trypsin immobilization. Trypsin molecules were immobilized onto the microspheres surfaces by covalent attachment. The effects of various parameters such as immobilization pH value, enzyme concentration, concentration of buffer solution, and immobilization time on protein loading amount and enzyme activity were systematically investigated. Under the optimum conditions, the protein loading was 493 ± 20 mg g^?1 and the activity yield of immobilized trypsin was 155% ± 3%. The maximum activity (V_max) and Michaelis constant (K_m) of immobilized enzyme were found to be 0.74 μM s^?1 and 0.54 mM, respectively. The immobilized trypsin showed better thermal and storage stability than the free trypsin. The enzyme‐immobilized microspheres with high protein loading amount still can show a thermo reversible phase transition behavior. The research could provide a strategy to immobilize enzyme for application in proteomics. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43343.     

Application of chitosan‐entrapped β‐galactosidase in a packed‐bed reactor system

The model enzyme β‐galactosidase was entrapped in chitosan gel beads and tested for hydrolytic activity and its potential for application in a packed‐bed reactor. The chitosan beads had an enzyme entrapment efficiency of 59% and retained 56% of the enzyme activity of the free enzyme. The Michaelis constant (K_m) was 0.0086 and 0.011 μmol/mL for the free and immobilized enzymes, respectively. The maximum velocity of the reaction (V_max) was 285.7 and 55.25 μmol mL^?1 min^?1 for the free and immobilized enzymes, respectively. In pH stability tests, the immobilized enzyme exhibited a greater range of pH stability and shifted to include a more acidic pH optimum, compared to that of the free enzyme. A 2.54 × 16.51‐cm tubular reactor was constructed to hold 300 mL of chitosan‐immobilized enzyme. A full‐factorial test design was implemented to test the effect of substrate flow (20 and 100 mL/min), concentration (0.0015 and 0.003M), and repeated use of the test bed on efficiency of the system. Parameters were analyzed using repeated‐measures analysis of variance. Flow (p < 0.05) and concentration (p < 0.05) significantly affected substrate conversion, as did the interaction progressing from Run 1 to Run 2 on a bed (p < 0.05). Reactor stability tests indicated that the packed‐bed reactor continued to convert substrate for more than 12 h with a minimal reduction in conversion efficiency. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 1294–1299, 2004     

A Taguchi design approach for the enhancement of a detergent-biocompatible alkaline thermostable protease production by Streptomyces mutabilis strain TN-X30

The ability of microorganisms to grow at high temperature, alkaline pH, and high salinity makes them an attractive target for enzyme-production with several industrial applications. One strain TN-X30 has been selected as protease producer and identified as Streptomyces mutabilis after a phenotypic and molecular study. Its production of protease was improved using Taguchi L27 design. The strategy was carried out to identify the optimum levels and the interaction of the screened factors. Following this step, maximum protease activity (10,895 U/ml) was achieved after 6-days of incubation. The TN-X30 protease activity had an optimum of pH and temperature of 10 and 65°C, respectively. Thermodynamic parameters at 60°C were enthalpy 14.26 kJ/mol, entropy −220 J/mol/K, and Gibbs free energy 90.53 kJ/mol. TN-X30 protease production displayed a 16-fold increase reaching 175,000 U/ml in a 100-L fermentor. Furthermore, the lyophilization in presence of sorbitol enhanced the stability of the TN-X30 protease which remained active at 75% after 24-months of storage. The lyophilized TN-X30 protease exhibited exceptional stability indexes in presence of some known commercialized detergent components as NEODOL® 25-7, Dehydol® LT 7, Na₂ CMC, Galaxy LAS, Galaxy LES 70, Galaxy 110, Galaxy CAPB Plus, and Sulfacid K. The lyophilized enzyme also displayed high stability with respect to both solid and liquid detergents. Finally, TN-X30 protease exhibited remarkable destaining of blood, egg, and chocolate stained cloth pieces. These findings may promote TN-X30 protease for use as bioadditive in detergent formulation, thereby reducing environmental chemical threat.     

Lipase‐catalyzed acylation of konjac glucomannan in ionic liquids

A comparative study was made of lipase‐catalyzed acylation of konjac glucomannan (KGM) with vinyl acetate as the acyl donor in five ionic liquids (ILs) and also in the presence of the organic solvent tert‐butanol (t‐BuOH). An obvious enhancement in enzyme activity and stability was observed using ILs as the reaction media when compared with t‐BuOH. The maximum degree of substitution (DS) of the modified KGM in ILs and t‐BuOH under the conditions employed is 0.71 and 0.54, respectively. The water activity (a_w) of the reaction system affected the acylation of KGM to some extent. 1‐Butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (C₄MIm.BF₄) was the best IL medium for the reaction, and an a_w of 0.75 was optimum. It was also found that the nature of both the cation and the anion of ILs had an effect on the reaction. Candida antarctica lipase B immobilized on an acrylic resin (Novozym 435) displayed no acylation activity to KGM in 1‐butyl‐3‐methylimidazolium chloride (C₄MIm.Cl). The optimum reaction temperature for enzymatic acylation in ILs was shown to be 45‐55 °C. Enzymatic acylation of KGM in IL‐t‐BuOH co‐solvent systems was also investigated. When an appropriate amount of t‐BuOH was added to ILs, the DS of the modified KGM was enhanced. Additionally, the enzymatic acylation of KGM in all the media examined was shown to be regioselective, with acylation occurring predominantly at the C‐6‐OH. Copyright © 2006 Society of Chemical Industry     

Structural Insights into the Recovery of Aldolase Activity in N‐Acetylneuraminic Acid Lyase by Replacement of the Catalytically Active Lysine with γ‐Thialysine by Using a Chemical Mutagenesis Strategy

Chemical modification has been used to introduce the unnatural amino acid γ‐thialysine in place of the catalytically important Lys165 in the enzyme N‐acetylneuraminic acid lyase (NAL). The Staphylococcus aureus nanA gene, encoding NAL, was cloned and expressed in E. coli. The protein, purified in high yield, has all the properties expected of a class I NAL. The S. aureus NAL which contains no natural cysteine residues was subjected to site‐directed mutagenesis to introduce a cysteine in place of Lys165 in the enzyme active site. Subsequently chemical mutagenesis completely converted the cysteine into γ‐thialysine through dehydroalanine (Dha) as demonstrated by ESI‐MS. Initial kinetic characterisation showed that the protein containing γ‐thialysine regained 17 % of the wild‐type activity. To understand the reason for this lower activity, we solved X‐ray crystal structures of the wild‐type S. aureus NAL, both in the absence of, and in complex with, pyruvate. We also report the structures of the K165C variant, and the K165‐γ‐thialysine enzyme in the presence, or absence, of pyruvate. These structures reveal that γ‐thialysine in NAL is an excellent structural mimic of lysine. Measurement of the pH‐activity profile of the thialysine modified enzyme revealed that its pH optimum is shifted from 7.4 to 6.8. At its optimum pH, the thialysine‐containing enzyme showed almost 30 % of the activity of the wild‐type enzyme at its pH optimum. The lowered activity and altered pH profile of the unnatural amino acid‐containing enzyme can be rationalised by imbalances of the ionisation states of residues within the active site when the pK_a of the residue at position 165 is perturbed by replacement with γ‐thialysine. The results reveal the utility of chemical mutagenesis for the modification of enzyme active sites and the exquisite sensitivity of catalysis to the local structural and electrostatic environment in NAL.     

Characteristics of poly(AAc5‐co‐HPMA3‐cl‐EGDMA15) hydrogel‐immobilized lipase of Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC‐4713

Four series of noble networks were synthesized with acrylic acid (AAc) copolymerized with varying amount of 2‐hydroxy propyl methacrylate or dodecyl methacrylate (AAc/HPMA or AAc/DMA; 5:1 to 5:5, w/w) in the presence of ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA; 1, 5, 10, 15, and 20%, w/w) as a crosslinker and ammonium per sulfate (APS) as an initiator. Each of the networks was used to immobilize a purified lipase from Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC‐4713. The lipase was purified by successive salting out with (NH₄)₂SO₄, dialysis, and DEAE anion exchange chromatography. Two of the matrices, E_15a, i.e. [poly (AAc₅‐co‐DMA₁‐cl‐EGDMA₁₅)] and I_15c, i.e. [poly (AAc₅‐co‐HPMA₃‐cl‐EGDMA₁₅)], that showed relatively higher binding efficiency for lipase were selected for further studies. I_15c‐hydrogel retained 58.3% of its initial activity after 10th cycle of repetitive hydrolysis of p‐NPP, and I_15c was thus catalytically more stable and efficient than the other matrix. The I_15c‐hydrogel‐immobilized enzyme showed maximum activity at 65°C and pH 9.5. The hydrolytic activity of free and I_15c‐hydrogel‐immobilized enzyme increased profoundly in the presence of 5 mM chloride salts of Hg²⁺, NH₄⁺, Al³⁺, K⁺, and Fe³⁺. The immobilized lipase was preferentially active on medium chain length p‐nitrophenyl acyl ester (C:8, p‐nitrophenyl caprylate). © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 100: 4636–4644, 2006     

Epoxy‐derived pHEMA membrane for use bioactive macromolecules immobilization: Covalently bound urease in a continuous model system

Poly(2‐hydroxyethylmethacrylate) (pHEMA) membranes were prepared by UV‐initiated photopolymerization of HEMA in the presence of an initiator (α‐α′‐azobisisobutyronitrile, AIBN). The epoxy group, i.e., epichlorohydrin, was incorporated covalently, and the urease was immobilized onto pHEMA membranes by covalent bonding through the epoxy group. The retained activity of the immobilized enzyme was found to be 27%. The K_m values were 18 and 34 mM for the free and the immobilized enzymes, respectively, and the V_max values were found to be 59.7 and 16.2 U mg⁻¹ for the free and the immobilized enzyme. The optimum pHs was 7.2 for both forms, and the optimum temperature for the free and the immobilized enzymes were determined to be 45 and 50°C, respectively. The immobilized urease was characterized in a continuous system and during urea degradation the operational stability rate constant for the immobilized enzyme was found to be 5.83 × 10⁻⁵ min⁻¹. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 2000–2008, 2000     

Controlling the Regioselectivity of Baeyer–Villiger Monooxygenases by Mutation of Active‐Site Residues

Baeyer–Villiger monooxygenase (BVMO)‐mediated regiodivergent conversions of asymmetric ketones can lead to the formation of “normal” or “abnormal” lactones. In a previous study, we were able to change the regioselectivity of a BVMO by mutation of the active‐site residues to smaller amino acids, which thus created more space. In this study, we demonstrate that this method can also be used for other BVMO/substrate combinations. We investigated the regioselectivity of 2‐oxo‐Δ³‐4,5,5‐trimethylcyclopentenylacetyl‐CoA monooxygenase from Pseudomonas putida (OTEMO) for cis‐bicyclo[3.2.0]hept‐2‐en‐6‐one ( 1 ) and trans‐dihydrocarvone ( 2 ), and we were able to switch the regioselectivity of this enzyme for one of the substrate enantiomers. The OTEMO wild‐type enzyme converted (?)‐ 1 into an equal (50:50) mixture of the normal and abnormal products. The F255A/F443V variant produced 90 % of the normal product, whereas the W501V variant formed up to 98 % of the abnormal product. OTEMO F255A exclusively produced the normal lactone from (+)‐ 2 , whereas the wild‐type enzyme was selective for the production of the abnormal product. The positions of these amino acids were equivalent to those mutated in the cyclohexanone monooxygenases from Arthrobacter sp. and Acinetobacter sp. (CHMO_Arthro and CHMO_Acineto) to switch their regioselectivity towards (+)‐ 2 , which suggests that there are hot spots in the active site of BVMOs that can be targeted with the aim to change the regioselectivity.     

Tailoring the surface architecture of poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate) scaffolds

This study was designed to determine whether the surface modifications of the various poly(3‐hydroxybutyrate‐co‐4‐hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB‐co‐4HB)] copolymer scaffolds fabricated would enhance mouse fibroblast cells (L929) attachment and proliferation. The P(3HB‐co‐4HB) copolymer with a wide range of 4HB monomer composition (16–91 mol %) was synthesized by a local isolate Cupriavidus sp. USMAA1020 by employing the modified two‐stage cultivation and by varying the concentrations of 4HB precursors, namely γ‐butyrolactone and 1,4‐butanediol. Five different processing techniques were used in fabricating the P(3HB‐co‐4HB) copolymer scaffolds such as solvent casting, salt‐leaching, enzyme degradation, combining salt‐leaching with enzyme degradation, and electrospinning. The increase in 4HB composition lowered melting temperatures (T_m) but increased elongation to break. P(3HB‐co‐91 mol % 4HB) exhibited a melting point of 46°C and elongation to break of 380%. The atomic force analysis showed an increase in the average surface roughness as the 4HB monomer composition increased. The mouse fibroblasts (L929) cell attachment was found to increase with high 4HB monomer composition in copolymer scaffolds. These results illustrate the importance of a detailed characterization of surface architecture of scaffolds to provoke specific cellular responses. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012     

Robust batch‐to‐batch optimization in the presence of model‐plant mismatch and input uncertainty

In model‐based optimization in the presence of model‐plant mismatch, the set of model parameter estimates which satisfy an identification objective may not result in an accurate prediction of the gradients of the cost‐function and constraints. To ensure convergence to the optimum, the predicted gradients can be forced to match the measured gradients by adapting the model parameters. Since updating all available parameters is impractical due to estimability problems and overfitting, there is a motivation for adapting a subset of parameters for updating the predicted outputs and gradients. This article presents an approach to select a subset of parameters based on the sensitivities of the model outputs and of the cost function and constraint gradients. Furthermore, robustness to uncertainties in initial batch conditions is introduced using a robust formulation based on polynomial chaos expansions. The improvements in convergence to the process optimum and robustness are illustrated using a fed‐batch bioprocess. © 2017 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 63: 2660–2670, 2017     

Covalent immobilization of β‐galactosidase onto electrospun nanofibers of poly (AN‐co‐MMA) copolymer

Immobilization of β‐galactosidase in poly (acrylonitrile‐co‐methyl methacrylate) poly (AN‐co‐MMA) Nanofibers was studied by electrospinning, and a spacer‐arm i.e., (Polyethyleneimine (PEI)) was covalently attached by the reaction of carbonyl groups of Poly (AN‐co‐MMA) nanofibers. β‐galactosidase was then covalently immobilized through the spacer‐arm of the Poly (AN‐co‐MMA) nanofibers by using glutaraldehyde (GA) as a coupling agent. Nanofibers mode of interaction was proven by FTIR and thermal gravimetric analysis and supported by morphological changes recognized through SEM examination. Factors affecting the modification process such as PEI concentration, reaction time, and reaction temperature have been studied. Its influence on the amount of coupled PEI was consequently correlated to the changes of the catalytic activity and the retained activity of immobilized enzyme, the main parameters judging the success of the immobilization process. Evidences of Poly (AN‐co‐MMA) nanofibers modification were extracted from morphological changes recognized through SEM examination. The maximum activity (V_max) and michaelis constant (K_m) of immobilized enzyme were found to be 8.8 μmole/min mg protein and 236.7 mM, respectively. Stabilities of the immobilized β‐galactosidase were obviously improved. The optimum temperature for β‐galactosidase immobilized on the spacer‐arm attached nanofiber was 5°C higher than that of the free enzyme and was also significantly broader. The immobilized β‐galactosidase had better resistance to temperature inactivation than did the free form. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 2013     

A Membrane‐Bound Prenyltransferase Catalyzes the O‐Prenylation of 1,6‐Dihydroxyphenazine in the Marine Bacterium Streptomyces sp. CNQ‐509

Streptomyces sp. CNQ‐509 produces the rare O‐prenylated phenazines marinophenazines A and B. To identify the enzyme catalyzing the O‐prenyl transfer in marinophenazine biosynthesis, we sequenced the genome of S. sp. CNQ‐509. This led to the identification of two genomic loci harboring putative phenazine biosynthesis genes. The first locus contains orthologues for all seven genes involved in phenazine‐1‐carboxylic acid biosynthesis in pseudomonads. The second locus contains two known phenazine biosynthesis genes and a putative prenyltransferase gene termed cnqPT1. cnqPT1 codes for a membrane protein with sequence similarity to the prenyltransferase UbiA of ubiquinone biosynthesis. The enzyme CnqPT1 was identified as a 1,6‐dihydroxyphenazine geranyltransferase, which catalyzes the C?O bond formation between C‐1 of the geranyl moiety and O‐6 of the phenazine scaffold. CnqPT1 is the first example of a prenyltransferase catalyzing O‐prenyl transfer to a phenazine.