Molecular fundamentals of enzyme nanogels

The assembly of a monomer around an enzyme as the essential step in the fabrication of enzyme nanogel by in situ polymerization was illustrated by molecular dynamics simulation and evidenced by a fluorescence resonance energy transfer spectrum, using lipase/acrylamide as a model system. The subsequent polymerization generated a hydrophilic gel network which not only strengthened the protein structural integrity via multipoint linkage but also increased the number of intramolecular H-bonds of the encapsulated protein, as suggested by the blue shift of the fluorescence spectrum of the encapsulated lipase. This greatly enhanced the stability of lipase at high temperature, as experimentally demonstrated. The exclusion of polar solvent molecules from the encapsulated enzyme, in contrast to the enrichment of water molecules, due to the presence of a hydrophilic gel network was displayed. This established a hydrophilic microenvironment for the encapsulated protein and thus gave the encapsulated protein an enhanced tolerance to the organic solvent, as experimentally observed in the present study and reported elsewhere. These results have given a molecular insight into the enzyme nanogel as well as its high potential as a robust enzyme model for an expended application spectrum of enzymatic catalysis.