Enzyme Immobilization and Co-Immobilization: Main Framework, Advances and Some Applications

Abstract

Enzymes are outstanding (bio)catalysts, not solely on account of their ability to increase reaction rates by up to several orders of magnitude but also for the high degree of substrate specificity, regiospecificity and stereospecificity. The use and development of enzymes as robust biocatalysts is one of the main challenges in biotechnology. However, despite the high specificities and turnover of enzymes, there are also drawbacks. At the industrial level, these drawbacks are typically overcome by resorting to immobilized enzymes to enhance stability. Immobilization of biocatalysts allows their reuse, increases stability, facilitates process control, eases product recovery, and enhances product yield and quality. This is especially important for expensive enzymes, for those obtained in low fermentation yield and with relatively low activity. This review provides an integrated perspective on (multi)enzyme immobilization that abridges a critical evaluation of immobilization methods and carriers, biocatalyst metrics, impact of key carrier features on biocatalyst performance, trends towards miniaturization and detailed illustrative examples that are representative of biocatalytic applications promoting sustainability.

Co-Immobilization of RizA Variants with Acetate Kinase for the Production of Bioactive Arginyl Dipeptides

“…In order to improve this further, the apparent loss of activity could be addressed by exploring other immobilization supports or coupling techniques. Since both RizA and AckA were produced with a his-tag for affinity purification, the analogous affinity immobilization would be a plausible next step [ 25 ].…”

“…Recently, NHS-activated agarose was used for food-grade immobilization of asparaginase for the removal of acrylamide [ 24 ]. Agarose beads have remarkable mechanical, chemical and biological stability, which can be further improved by cross-linking [ 25 , 26 ].…”

“…The co-immobilization of multiple enzymes is reminiscent of the organization of enzymes into enzyme complexes in living cells with short diffusion distances between enzymes in a reaction sequence [ 25 , 27 ]. It is also helpful if intermediate products are unstable or inhibitory and accumulation is not wanted [ 25 ]. Apart from enzyme cascades, cofactor regeneration is one of the most prominent applications.…”

Marine chitin upcycling with immobilized chitinolytic enzymes: current state and prospects

“…Useful background information on relevant properties of the four potential enzyme carrier materials and guidance how to use them for enzyme immobilization is provided in some fundamental review articles about the topic. [83][84][85][86][87][88][89][90][91][92] Here we offer a briefing for supportive entry level knowledge.…”

Co-Immobilization and Compartmentalization of Cholesterol Oxidase, Glucose Oxidase and Horseradish Peroxidase for Improved Thermal and H2o2 Stability

“…Further, the obtained biocatalysts were examined in terms of immobilization efficiency and biocatalytic productivity (Table 1). It is known that the types of the applied support and immobilization method affect the amount of the attached biomolecules [63]. For example, enzyme loading is higher after immobilization onto membrane compared to the electrospun fibers, regardless of the method of immobilization used.…”