Synergistic effects of amine and protein modified epoxy-support on immobilized lipase activity

We have developed an improved and effective method to immobilize Yarrowia lipolytica lipase Lip2 (YLIP2) on an epoxy poly-(glycidylmethacrylate-triallyisocyanurate-ethyleneglycoldimethacrylate) (PGMA-TAIC-EGDMA) support structure with or without amine or/and protein modifications. Our results show that there is an increase in the activity of the immobilized lipase on n-butylamine (BA) modified support (420U/g support) and the biocompatible gelatin modified support (600U/g support) when compared to the support without modification (240U/g support). To further study the influences of BA and gelatin modification on the activity of the immobilized lipase, gelatin and BA were concurrently used to decorate the support structure. Lipase immobilized on 2% BA/gelatin (1:1) modified support obtained the highest activity (1180U/g support), which was five-fold higher than that on a native support structure. These results suggest that the activity of a support-immobilized lipase depends on the support surface properties and a moderate support surface micro-environment was crucial for elevated activity. Collectively, these data show that a combined gelatin and BA modification regulates the support surface more suitable for immobilizing YLIP2.