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Hot Biological Catalysis: Isothermal Titration Calorimetry to Characterize Enzymatic Reactions
Published on: April 4, 2014
Magnetic amyloid-based biocatalyst for the hydrolysis of urea
A de Athayde Moncorvo Collado1, S B Socías2, F González-Lizárraga2
1Instituto de Medicina Molecular y Celular Aplicada, Universidad Nacional de Tucumán-Consejo Nacional de Investigación Científicas y Técnicas- Sistema Provincial de Salud (UNT-CONICET-SIPROSA), Pasaje Manuel Dorrego, 1080. CP 4000. Tucumán, Argentina; Instituto Superior de Investigaciones Biológicas (INSIBIO, CONICET-UNT). Instituto de Química Biológica "Dr. Bernabé Bloj", Facultad de Bioquímica, Química y Farmacia, UNT, Batalla de Chacabuco 461, CP 4000 Tucumán, Argentina.
Abstract:
The presence of urea in wines and other alcoholic beverages represents a critical problem since it can chemically react with ethanol, which leads to the formation of ethyl carbamate, a carcinogenic agent according to the World Health Organization. Here we report the creation of a biocatalyst for the hydrolysis of urea, which could potentially be used before bottling alcoholic drinks. For this, the effective surface area of streptavidin-labeled magnetic microparticles was amplified by functionalization with biotin-labeled hen egg lysozyme amyloid fibers. Subsequently, by using copper and hydrogen peroxide induced cross-linking of unmodified proteins (CHICUP), soybean urease was immobilized to the fibers. This gave rise to a magnetic biocatalyst with remarkable urease activity, which was maintained even after 10 reuses. We propose that this strategy could be used as a platform for immobilizing other molecules to design and develop a myriad of biocatalysts for the food industry.
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