Immobilization of Aspergillus niger lipase on chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles using two covalent-binding methods.

Aspergillus niger lipase immobilization by covalent binding on chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles (CMNP), obtained by one-step co-precipitation, was studied. Hydroxyl and amino groups of support were activated using glycidol and glutaraldehyde, respectively. Fourier transform infrared spectrometry, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis confirmed reaction of these coupling agents with the enzyme and achievement of a successful immobilization. The derivatives showed activities of 309.5 ± 2.0 and 266.2 ± 2.8 U (g support)(-1) for the CMNP treated with glutaraldehyde and with glycidol, respectively. Immobilization enhanced the enzyme stability against changes of pH and temperature, compared to free lipase. Furthermore, the kinetic parameters K m and V max were determined for the free and immobilized enzyme. K m value quantified for enzyme immobilized by means of glutaraldehyde was 1.7 times lowers than for free lipase. High storage stability during 50 days was observed in the immobilized derivatives. Finally, immobilized derivatives retained above 80% of their initial activity after 15 hydrolytic cycles. The immobilized enzyme can be applied in various biotechnological processes involving magnetic separation.

Effect of monomer dosing rate in the preparation of mesoporous polystyrene nanoparticles by semicontinuous heterophase polymerization.

The semicontinuous heterophase polymerization of styrene in the presence of cross-linking and porogen agents was carried out. Latexes with close to 20% solid content, which contained mesoporous nanoparticles with 28 nm in average diameters, up to 0.5 cm3/g in porosity and 6-8 nm in pore diameters were obtained. By varying the monomer dosing rate over the micellar solution, an unexpected direct dependence of instantaneous conversion on the monomer dosing rate was found. This was ascribed to the higher average number of radicals per particle attained in the polymerization at the higher dosing rate, which in turn would arise from the higher gel percentage in the polymer. It is believed that the cross-linked chains prevent encounters between radicals, delaying the bimolecular termination reactions and allowing the existence of more than one radical inside the particles, which in turn increases the propagation rate.

Chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles prepared in one step by reverse microemulsion precipitation.

Chitosan-coated magnetic nanoparticles (CMNP) were obtained at 70 °C and 80 °C in a one-step method, which comprises precipitation in reverse microemulsion in the presence of low chitosan concentration in the aqueous phase. X-ray diffractometry showed that CMNP obtained at both temperatures contain a mixture of magnetite and maghemite nanoparticles with ≈4.5 nm in average diameter, determined by electron microscopy, which suggests that precipitation temperature does not affect the particle size. The chitosan coating on nanoparticles was inferred from Fourier transform infrared spectrometry measurements; furthermore, the carbon concentration in the nanoparticles allowed an estimation of chitosan content in CMNP of 6%-7%. CMNP exhibit a superparamagnetic behavior with relatively high final magnetization values (≈49-53 emu/g) at 20 kOe and room temperature, probably due to a higher magnetite content in the mixture of magnetic nanoparticles. In addition, a slight direct effect of precipitation temperature on magnetization was identified, which was ascribed to a possible higher degree of nanoparticles crystallinity as temperature at which they are obtained increases. Tested for Pb2+ removal from a Pb(NO3)2 aqueous solution, CMNP showed a recovery efficacy of 100%, which makes them attractive for using in heavy metals ion removal from waste water.

Extraction and immobilization of SA-α-2,6-Gal receptors on magnetic nanoparticles to study receptor stability and interaction with Sambucus nigra lectin.

The interaction between influenza virus hemagglutinins and host cell with terminal sialic acid linked receptors, SA-α-2,6-Gal for human strains is important to obtain insights into this infectious disease. Sambucus nigra lectin has high affinity for SA-α-2,6-Gal receptors. The goals of this work were: to extract the SA-α-2,6-Gal receptors from porcine airways; to perform receptors immobilization and study their storage stability; and to determine some parameters of interaction between the receptor and S. nigra lectin. The receptor isolation was monitored by means of bound sialic acid (BSAc) detection. A major band of protein at 66.7 kDa was clearly visible in SDS-PAGE assay. Eighty-one percent of isolated glycoproteins were immobilized on magnetic nanoparticles. The kinetics of BSAc storage stability at 4 °C was approximated as the first order reaction with kinetic constant and half-life estimated as 0.062 day(-1) and 11.2 days, respectively. The dissociation constant (K d) calculated from Scatchard's plot was 2.47 × 10(-7) M, and the receptor concentration was equal to 7.92 × 10(-5) M. Procedure for N-SA-α-2,6-Gal -receptors extraction based on their affinity to S. nigra lectin with magnetic nanoparticles, and their immobilization in active form, was not described previously, and may have wide application in designing biosensors or virus removal from areas or contaminated samples.