Corundum Particles as Trypsin Carrier for Efficient Protein Digestion

Reusable enzyme carriers are valuable for proteomic workflows, yet many supports are expensive or lack robustness. This study describes the covalent immobilization of recombinant trypsin on micrometer-sized corundum particles and assesses their performance in protein digestion and antibody analysis. The corundum surface was cleaned with potassium hydroxide, silanized with 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane and activated with glutaraldehyde. Recombinant trypsin was then attached, and the resulting imines were reduced with sodium cyanoborohydride. Aromatic amino acid analysis (AAAA) estimated an enzyme loading of approximately 1 µg/mg. Non-specific adsorption of human plasma proteins was suppressed by blocking residual aldehydes with a Tris-glycine-lysine buffer. Compared with free trypsin, immobilization shifted the temperature optimum from 50 to 60 °C and greatly improved stability in 1 M guanidinium hydrochloride. Activity remained above 80% across several reuse cycles, and storage at 4 °C preserved functionality for weeks. When applied to digesting the NISTmAb, immobilized trypsin provided peptide yields and sequence coverage comparable to soluble enzyme and outperformed it at elevated temperatures. MALDI-TOF MS analysis of Herceptin digests yielded fingerprint spectra that correctly identified the antibody and achieved >60% sequence coverage. The combination of low cost, robustness and analytical performance makes corundum-immobilized trypsin an attractive option for research and routine proteomic workflows.