Polyelectrolytes–protein complexes: a viable platform in the downstream processes of industrial enzymes at scaling up level

Abstract

Complexation between proteins and polyelectrolytes through electrostatic interactions gives either soluble or non‐soluble complexes, leading to phase separation. The formation and the stability of these complexes are influenced by pH, ionic strength, ratio between protein and polyelectrolyte and charge density of protein and polyelectrolyte. This review presented the advantages on the protein precipitation by adding a polyelectrolyte solution to a natural enzyme source (microbiological, vegetal or animal homogenate), over the classical precipitation methods. An enzyme can be precipitated like non‐soluble complex, separated and then re‐dissolved, thus the method works, at the same time, like concentrative and pre‐purification steps together. © 2016 Society of Chemical Industry

Protein–Polyelectrolyte Complexes and Micellar Assemblies

“…Fundamental understanding of protein–PE interactions is crucial for understanding liquid–liquid phase separation leading to the formation of membraneless organelles inside cells (discussed further in Section 3.3.3) [80,81,82] as well as development of practical applications such as purification of therapeutic proteins (discussed further in Section 3.3.2) [3,72,78,83,84]. These motivations, among others, have led to a significant growth in research on protein–PE complexes in the past few decades.…”

“…Mixtures of proteins and polyelectrolytes (PEs) in aqueous milieu interact and assemble together to form protein–polyelectrolyte (protein–PE) complexes [1,2,3,4,5]. The associative macromolecular phase separation results in recruitment of both the proteins and the PEs into the complex phase.…”

“…Recent advances in polymer synthesis, biotechnology and characterization techniques coupled with the unique and advantageous attributes of protein–PE complexes have contributed immensely towards the widespread use of bulk phase separated protein–PE complexes in myriad biotechnological applications. These include protein separation, purification and concentration [3,18,19], protein stabilization [20,21,22,23], drug/protein delivery [24,25,26], synthetic bio-adhesives [27,28,29], tissue engineering [30], gene therapy [31] and encapsulants in the food industry [1,32,33].…”

Macro- and Microphase Separated Protein-Polyelectrolyte Complexes: Design Parameters and Current Progress

“…They are also being explored as a method to co-localize proteins to act as bioreactors [9,10]. In addition, appropriate design of coacervate system could allow for protein complex coacervation to be used as a protein purification technique [12,16,144] or as a means of protein immobilization for surface coating [52]. Finally, macrophase separated systems are being explored as a method for the delivery of biomolecules [3,13,14,15].…”

“…The thermodynamic theory of this process was then pioneered by Voorn and Overbeek two decades later [2]. Following these initial experimental and theoretical studies, protein-containing PECs have been studied and applied to a wide range of fields including: food science, drug delivery, protein purification, and enzymatic nanoreactors [3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11,12,13,14,15,16].…”