Improved performance of Yarrowia lipolytica lipase-catalyzed kinetic resolution of (R,S)-2-octanol by an integrated strategy of interfacial activation, bioimprinting and immobilization

Bioimprinted lipase-catalyzed synthesis of medium- and long-chain structured lipids rich in docosahexaenoic acid for infant formula

Medium- and long-chain structured lipids (MLSLs) rich in docosahexaenoic acid (DHA) were obtained in shorter reaction time by acidolysis of single-cell oil (DHASCO) from Schizochytrium sp. with caprylic acid (CA) using a lipase bioimprinted with fatty acids as a catalyst. The conditions for preparation of the bioimprinted lipase for the acidolysis reaction were firstly optimized and the activity of the obtained lipase was 2.17 times higher than that of the non-bioimprinted. The bioimprinted lipase was then used as a catalyst and the reaction conditions were optimized. Under the optimal conditions, the equilibrium could be achieved in 4 h, and the total and sn-1,3 CA contents in the product were 29.18% and 42.34%, respectively, and the total and sn-2 DHA contents were 46.26% and 70.12%, respectively. Such MLSLs rich in sn-1,3 CA and sn-2 DHA are beneficial for DHA absorption, and thus have potential for use in infant formula.

Lipase activation by molecular bioimprinting: The role of interactions between fatty acids and enzyme active site

Bioimprinting is an easy, sustainable and low-cost technique that promotes a printing of potential substrates on enzyme structure, inducing a more selective and stable conformation. Bioimprinting promotes conformational changes in enzymes, resulting in better catalytic performance. In this work, the effect of bioimprinting of Burkholderia cepacia lipase (BCL) and porcine pancreatic extracts (PPE) with four different fatty acids (lauric acid (C12:0), myristic acid (C14:0), palmitic acid (C16:0), and stearic acid (C18:0)) was investigated. The results demonstrated that the better bioimprinting effect was in BCL with lauric acid in esterification reaction, promoting BCL activation in which relative enzyme activity was 70 times greater than nonimprinted BCL. Bioimprinting results were influenced by the carbon chain length of fatty acids imprinted in the BCL, in which the effects were weaker with the chain increase. Molecular docking was performed to better understand the bioimprinting method. The results of these simulations showed that indeed all fatty acids were imprinted in the active site of BCL. However, lauric acid presented the highest imprinting preference in the active site of BCL, resulting in the highest relative activity. Furthermore, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) analysis confirmed important variations in secondary structure of bioimprinting BCL with lauric acid, in which there was a reduction in the α-helix content and an increase in the β-sheet content that facilitated substrate access to the active site of BCL and led higher rigidity, resulting in high activity. Bioimprinted BCL with lauric acid showed excellent operational stability in esterification reaction, maintaining its original relative activity after five successive cycles. Thus, the results show that bioimprinting of BCL with lauric acid is a successful strategy due to its high catalytic activity and reusability.

Surfactant-activated lipase hybrid nanoflowers with enhanced enzymatic performance

Increasing numbers of materials have been extensively used as platforms for enzyme immobilization to improve catalytic performance. However, activity of the most of the enzymes was declined after immobilization. Here, we develop a surfactant-activated lipase-inorganic flowerlike hybrid nanomaterials with rational design based on interfacial activation and self-assembly. The resulting surfactant-activated lipase-inorganic hybird nanoflower (activated hNF-lipase) exhibited 460% and 200% higher activity than native lipase and conventional lipase-inorganic hybird nanoflower (hNF-lipase). Furthermore, the activated hNF-lipase displayed good reusability due to its monodispersity and mechanical properties, and had excellent long-time stability. The superior catalytic performances were attributed to both the conformational modulation of surfactants and hierarchical structure of nanoflowers, which not only anchored lipases in an active form, but also decreased the enzyme-support negative interaction and mass-transfer limitations. This new biocatalytic system is promising to find widespread use in applications related to biomedicine, biosensor, and biodiesel.