Extending the computational and experimental analysis of lipase active site selectivity.

Molecular docking is an important computational analysis widely used to predict the interaction of enzymes with several starting materials for developing new valuable products from several starting materials, including oils and fats. In the present study, molecular docking was used as an efficient in silico screening tool to select biocatalysts with the highest catalytic performance in butyl esters production in a solvent-free system, an eco-friendly approach, via direct esterification of free fatty acids from Licuri oil with butanol. For such purpose, three commercial lipase preparations were used to perform molecular docking studies such as Burkholderia cepacia (BCL), Porcine pancreatic (PPL), and Candida rugosa (CRL). Concurrently, the results obtained in BCL and CRL are the most efficient in the esterification process due to their higher preference for catalyzing the esterification of lauric acid, the main fatty acid found in the licuri oil composition. Meanwhile, PPL was the least efficient because it preferentially interacts with minor fatty acids. Molecular docking with the experimental results indicated the better performance in the synthesis of esters was BCL. In conclusion, experimental results analysis shows higher enzymatic productivity in esterification reactions of 1294.83 µmol/h.mg, while the CRL and PPL demonstrated the lowest performance (189.87 µmol / h.mg and 23.96 µmol / h.mg, respectively). Thus, molecular docking and experimental results indicate that BCL is a more efficient lipase to produce fatty acids and esters from licuri oil with a high content of lauric acid. In addition, this study also demonstrates the application of molecular docking as an important tool for lipase screening to achieve more sustainable production of butyl esters with a view synthesis of biolubricants.

Computational and experimental analysis on the preferential selectivity of lipases for triglycerides in Licuri oil.

In the present study, we demonstrated the use of molecular docking as an efficient in silico screening tool for lipase-triglyceride interactions. Computational simulations using the crystal structures from Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL), Thermomyces lanuginosus lipase (TLL), and pancreatic porcine lipase (PPL) were performed to elucidate the catalytic behavior with the majority triglycerides present in Licuri oil, as follows: caprilyl-dilauryl-glycerol (CyLaLa), capryl-dilauryl-glycerol (CaLaLa), capryl-lauryl-myristoyl-glycerol (CaLaM), and dilauryl-myristoyl-glycerol (LaLaM). The computational simulation results showed that BCL has the potential to preferentially catalyze the major triglycerides present in Licuri oil, demonstrating that CyLaLa, (≈25.75% oil composition) interacts directly with two of the three amino acid residues in its catalytic triad (Ser87 and His286) with the lowest energy (-5.9 kcal/mol), while other triglycerides (CaLaLa, CaLaM, and LaLaM) interact with only one amino acid (His286). In one hard, TLL showed a preference for catalyzing the triglyceride CaLaLa also interacting with His286 residue, but, achieving higher binding energies (-5.3 kcal/mol) than found in BCL (-5.7 kcal/mol). On the other hand, PPL prefers to catalyze only with LaLaM triglyceride by His264 residue interaction. When comparing the computational simulations with the experimental results, it was possible to understand how BCL and TLL display more stable binding with the majority triglycerides present in the Licuri oil, achieving conversions of 50.86 and 49.01%, respectively. These results indicate the production of fatty acid concentrates from Licuri oil with high lauric acid content. Meanwhile, this study also demonstrates the application of molecular docking as an important tool for lipase screening to reach a more sustainable production of fatty acid concentrates from vegetable oils.

Immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase onto an eco-friendly support in the presence of ionic liquid.

Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) was immobilized on an eco-friendly support poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV), by physical adsorption, using different ionic liquids (ILs) as immobilization additives. This was to investigate the influence of cationic core ([C4mpy]Cl, [C4min]Cl), of anions ([C4min]Cl, [C4min]N(CN)2, [C4min]Tf2N), and of cation chain length ([C2min]Tf2N, [C4min]Tf2N) in the immobilization process. The immobilized biocatalysts (IB) were characterized with respect to the morphological, physico-chemical properties, total activity recovery yield (Ya), and biochemical properties of more efficient IB were evaluated. Initially, it was found that the change of cationic core did not influence in Ya compared to the control. With change of anions, it was seen that the best result was obtained for the more hydrophobic anion (Tf2N), and finally increasing the cation chain length increased Ya. IB most efficient with [C4min]Tf2N obtained 78 % of Ya, more than twice the control value (30 %) and a considerable enhancement of operational stability compared with the control.

Immobilization of Candida rugosa lipase on poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate): a new eco-friendly support.

The overall objective of this study is to evaluate the morphological [scanning electron microscopy (SEM)], physicochemical [differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), chemical composition analysis, Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR)], and biochemical properties of Candida rugosa lipase (CRL) immobilized on a natural biopolymer poly(3-hydroxybutyrate-co-hydroxyvalerate) (PHBV) in aqueous solution. CRL was immobilized by physical adsorption with efficiency of 30%. Compared with free CRL enzyme, there were slight changes in immobilized CRL activity as a function of temperature (from 37°C to 45°C), but a similar optimal pH value of 7.0. Inactivation rate constants for immobilized CRL enzyme were 0.009 and 0.334 h⁻¹, and half-lives were 77 and 2 h at 40°C and 60°C, respectively. Kinetic parameters obtained for immobilized CRL include the Michaelis-Menten constant of K(m) = 213.18 mM and maximum reaction velocity of V(max) = 318.62 U/g. The operational stability of immobilized CRL was tested repeatedly, and after 12 cycles of reuse, the enzyme retained 50% activity. Based on our results, we propose that PHBV-immobilized CRL could serve as a promising biocatalyst in several industrial applications.