Immobilization of horseradish peroxidase on Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles

Background: Iron magnetic nanoparticles have attracted much attention. They have been used in enzyme immobilization because of their properties such as product is easily separated from the medium by magnetic separation. The present work was designed to immobilize horseradish peroxidase on Fe3O4 magnetic nanopraticles without modification. Results: In the present study, horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was immobilized on non-modified Fe3O4 magnetic nanoparticles. The immobilized HRP was characterized by FT-IR spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and energy dispersive X-ray. In addition, it retained 55% of its initial activity after 10 reuses. The optimal pH shifted from 7.0 for soluble HRP to 7.5 for the immobilized HRP, and the optimal temperature shifted from 40°C to 50°C. The immobilized HRP is more thermostable than soluble HRP. Various substrates were oxidized by the immobilized HRP with higher efficiencies than by soluble HRP. Km values of the soluble and immobilized HRP were 31 and 45 mM for guaiacol and 5.0 and 7.0 mM for H2O2, respectively. The effect of metals on soluble and immobilized HRP was studied. Moreover, the immobilized HRP was more stable against high concentrations of urea, Triton X-100, and isopropanol. Conclusions: Physical immobilization of HRP on iron magnetic nanoparticles improved the stability toward the denaturation induced by pH, heat, metal ions, urea, detergent, and water-miscible organic solvent.

Kinetics of enzymatic modification of quercetin with cysteine by horseradish peroxidase.

The kinetic mechanism of enzymatic modification of flavonol quercetin with L-cysteine by horseradish peroxidase (HRP) was studied. Reaction of modification of quercetin was followed by recording spectral changes over time at 380 nm. All reactions were performed in 100 mM phosphate buffer pH, 6.0 at 20ºC. Kinetic parameters were determined from graphics of linear Michaelis-Menten equation. The values obtained at specified intervals were: Vmax = 0.17 ÷ 0.91 ΔA380/min, Km = 0.023 ÷ 0.5 mM, kcat = 0.21 ÷ 1.14 ΔA380/min∙nM-1 and Vmax/Km = 0.83 ÷ 26.55 ΔA380/min∙mM-1. It was found that all investigated reactions of the modification of quercetin with L-cysteine by HRP followed an ordered mechanism. We propose that HRP initially reacts with H2O2 than with quercetin and finally with L-cysteine, leading to the introduction of L-cysteine in the structure of quercetin.

Electrogeneration of hydrogen peroxide applied to the peroxide-mediated oxidation of (R)-limonene in organic media

Horse radish peroxidase (HRP) from Armoracia rusticana catalyses the oxidation of (R)-limonene into the oxidized derivatives carveol and carvone. This study compares the direct addition (DA) of hydrogen peroxide with its continuous electrogeneration (EG) during the enzymatic oxidation of (R)-limonene. Reaction mixtures containing HRP, (R)-limonene as substrate, and hydrogen peroxide, added directly or electrogenerated, in 100 mM sodium-potassium phosphate buffer pH 7.0, at 25ºC were studied. Two electrochemical systems for the hydrogen peroxide electrogeneration were evaluated, both containing as auxiliary electrode (AE) a platinum wire and saturated calomel electrode (SCE) as reference. Reticulated vitreous carbon foam (RVCF) and an electrolytic copper web (CW) were evaluated as working electrodes (WE). Results were compared in terms of hydrogen peroxide electrogeneration, (R)-limonene residual concentration or conversion and product selectivity. Best results in terms of maximum H2O2 concentration (1.2 mM) were obtained using the CW electrode at -620 mV SCE, and continuous aeration. Use of the EG system under optimized conditions, which included the use of acetone (30% v/v) as a cosolvent in a 3 hrs enzymatic reaction, lead to a 45% conversion of (R)-limonene into carveol and carvone (2:1). In comparison to the results obtained with DA, the use of EG also improved the half-life of the enzyme.

Structural perturbation of proteins in low denaturant concentrations.

The presence of very low concentrations of the widely used chemical denaturants, guanidinium chloride and urea, induce changes in the tertiary structure of proteins. We have presented results on such changes in four structurally unrelated proteins to show that such structural perturbations are common irrespective of their origin. Data representative of such structural changes are shown for the monomeric globular proteins such as horseradish peroxidase (HRP) from a plant, human serum albumin (HSA) and prothrombin from ovine blood serum, and for the membrane-associated, worm-like elongated protein, spectrin, from ovine erythrocytes. Structural alterations in these proteins were reflected in quenching studies of tryptophan fluorescence using the widely used quencher acrylamide. Stern-Volmer quenching constants measured in presence of the denaturants, even at concentrations below 100 mM, were higher than those measured in absence of the denaturants. Both steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence emission properties of tryptophan and of the extrinsic probe PRODAN were used for monitoring conformational changes in the proteins in presence of different low concentrations of the denaturants. These results are consistent with earlier studies from our laboratory indicating structural perturbations in proteins at the tertiary level, keeping their native-like secondary structure and their biological activity more or less intact.