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Block Copolymer Microdomains: A Novel Medium for Enzymatic Reactions
Author(s) -
Gupte A.,
Nagarajan R.,
Kilara A.
Publication year - 1991
Publication title -
biotechnology progress
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.572
H-Index - 129
eISSN - 1520-6033
pISSN - 8756-7938
DOI - 10.1021/bp00010a009
Subject(s) - copolymer , lipid microdomain , horseradish peroxidase , chemistry , aqueous medium , peroxidase , glucose oxidase , block (permutation group theory) , polymer chemistry , enzyme , aqueous solution , chemical engineering , organic chemistry , biochemistry , membrane , polymer , geometry , mathematics , engineering
Block copolymers exhibit the phenomenon of microdomain formation in pure states as well as in solutions. The microdomains vest the block copolymer assemblies with the intriguing characteristics of microheterogeneous media. We demonstrate that this microheterogeneity in hydrophobic‐hydrophilic block copolymer systems can be exploited for immobilizing enzymes and to carry out enzymatic reactions. Examples involving cholesterol oxidase and horseradish peroxidase are provided here. The observed changes in the enzymatic activity in block copolymer microdomains from that in the aqueous media are interpreted in terms of the hydrophobicity of the reaction microenvironment. The block copolymer microdomains are simple to generate, well defined, and easily reproducible. Therefore, they hold significant potential as media for enzymatic biosynthetic reactions when the substrates or the reaction products are water insoluble.