Enzymes-lipid aggregates

A recent and exciting area of research is the solubilization of enzymes in nonaqueous solvents. One way solubilization is achieved is through noncovalent complexes of lipid (surfactant) and protein, to be referred to here as enzyme-lipid aggregates, or ELAs. Such complexes are reported to be highly active and stable. Moreover, the activity of ELAs can be significantly higher than free, suspended enzyme (in the absence or presence of surfactant), enzymes solubilized in aqueous-organic biphasic systems, or reverse micellar solutions, and can approach catalytic rates in... 

In biological systems molecular assemblies connected by non-covalent interactions are as common as biopolymers. Examples arc protein and DNA helices, enzyme-substrate and multienzyme complexes, bilayer lipid membranes (BLMs), and aggregates of biopolymers forming various aqueous gels, e.g, the eye lens. About 50% of the organic substances in humans are accounted for by the membrane structures of cells, which constitute the medium for the vast majority of biochemical reactions. Evidently organic synthesis should also develop tools to mimic the Structure and propertiesof biopolymer, biomembrane, and gel structures in aqueous media. 

Generally speaking we consider that most micro-organisms live and grow in aqueous environments, and that the cytoplasm within cells in which enzymes function is also aqueous. On die other hand, most lipids are only sparingly soluble in aqueous media. Cholesterol, for example, has a solubility of less than 2 mg l 1 (equivalent to a concentration of less than 5 pmol l 1). Even at much lower concentrations (25-40 nmol l 1) it tends to aggregate into micelles. There is, therefore, a general problem of how to supply lipid substrates at sufficient concentration to produce reaction kinetics that are appropriate for industrial purposes. 

The most effective of these include immobilization [80], lipid coating [81], surfactant coating [82], use of cross-linked enzyme crystals [83], cross-linked enzyme aggregates [84], and membrane reactors [85]. 

The vesicles made from lipid bilayers are analogous to polymersomes, which are vesicles formed from high molecular weight amphiphilic block copolymers [94—96], Unlike the micelles discussed earlier from the similar copolymer components, the presence of bilayer walls formed from the aggregation of hydrophobic domains provides new properties. They can be designed to respond, for example, by opening or by disassembly, to external stimuli such as pH, heat, light, and redox processes [97]. This makes them usable as scaffolds for cascade reactions, even those with combinations of enzymes [98, 99]. 

The following factors appear to control the emulsification properties of milk proteins in food product applications 1) the physico-chemical state of the proteins as influenced by pH, Ca and other polyvalent ions, denaturation, aggregation, enzyme modification, and conditions used to produce the emulsion 2) composition and processing conditions with respect to lipid-protein ratio, chemical emulsifiers, physical state of the fat phase, ionic activities, pH, and viscosity of the dispersion phase surrounding the fat globules and 3) the sequence and process for incorporating the respective components of the emulsion and for forming the emulsion. 

The linear polypeptide chains of a protein fold in a highly specific way that is determined by the sequence of amino acids in the chains. Many proteins are composed of two or more polypeptides. Certain proteins function in structural roles. Some structural proteins interact with lipids in membrane structures. Others aggregate to form part of the cytoskeleton that helps to give the cell its shape. Still others are the chief components of muscle or connective tissue. Enzymes constitute yet another major class of proteins, which function as catalysts that accelerate and direct biochemical reactions. 

The Lipid World hypothesis states that polar hydrocarbons formed in a prebi-otic Earth, or originated from extraterrestrial meteoric sources, and then went on to aggregate into vesicles. These vesicles then capture chemical species at random in some cases the concentrating effect of the vesicle would facilitate chemical reactions and some of these would eventually lead to self sustaining chemical reactions. Eventually protein-based enzymes would emerge that could synthesize lipids and the entire system would then become symbiotic. 

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