Enhanced antibacterial activity of lysozyme immobilized on chitin nanowhiskers

In this paper, the contribution of chitin nanowhiskers (CHNW) to the enzymatic activity and antimicrobial activity of lysozyme adsorbed on CHNW was investigated. An activity assay showed that the lysozyme-CHNW system exhibited significant promotion potency on lysozyme activity, which was approximately 1.5-fold greater than that of free lysozyme. The molecular promotion mechanism of lysozyme immobilized by adsorption onto CHNW was investigated by ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry, fluorescence spectroscopy, and circular dichroism spectroscopy. The results indicated that changes in the secondary structure of lysozyme adsorption onto CHNW resulted in superior enzymatic activity. Furthermore, the antimicrobial assays indicated that the antimicrobial activity of the lysozyme-CHNW system was greater than that of free lysozyme, whereas its antimicrobial effect on a gram-negative bacterium was better than that on gram-positive bacteria. This research provides a facile and promising approach for increasing the application of chitin-derived and enhancing the antibacterial efficiency on preservation.