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Updated: Jul 4, 2026
08:37
Measuring Enzymatic Stability by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry
Published on: March 26, 2019
Operational stability of copolymerized enzymes at elevated temperatures
V V Mozhaev1, V A Siksnis, V P Torchilin
1Department of Chemistry Moscow State University, Moscow, 117 234, USSR.
Biotechnology and Bioengineering
|August 1, 1983
Summary
Enzyme immobilization using copolymerization enhances stability and activity. Covalently incorporated enzymes in polyacrylamide gel show significantly higher thermal stability and optimal temperatures compared to native enzymes.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Polymer Chemistry
- Enzyme Engineering
Background:
- Native enzymes often exhibit limited stability, particularly at elevated temperatures.
- Reversible conformational changes can decrease enzyme activity under thermal stress.
- Enzyme immobilization is crucial for industrial applications requiring robust biocatalysts.
Purpose of the Study:
- To develop enzyme preparations with enhanced thermal stability and operational performance.
- To investigate the effect of covalent immobilization in polyacrylamide gel on enzyme properties.
- To compare the thermal characteristics of immobilized enzymes with their native counterparts.
Main Methods:
- Enzyme immobilization via copolymerization within a polyacrylamide gel matrix.
- Assessment of enzyme stability against irreversible thermoinactivation.
- Determination of optimal temperatures for enzyme activity.
- Comparative analysis of immobilized versus native enzyme thermal behavior.
Main Results:
- Covalently immobilized enzyme preparations demonstrated hundreds of times greater stability against thermoinactivation.
- Immobilization completely suppressed reversible conformational changes affecting activity at high temperatures.
- Immobilized trypsin and alpha-chymotrypsin showed optimal activity at 75°C and 70°C, respectively.
- These optimal temperatures represent a 25°C and 30°C increase compared to native enzymes.
Conclusions:
- Copolymerization is an effective method for creating highly stable and active immobilized enzyme preparations.
- Polyacrylamide-entrapped enzymes exhibit significantly improved operational stability at elevated temperatures.
- This immobilization technique offers practical advantages for industrial enzyme applications requiring thermal robustness.
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