Steroid modifications with immobilized biocatalysts--use of immobilized enzyme-requiring cofactor regeneration and of immobilized mycelium.

Two biological approaches have been investigated for specific modifications of steroids. The first one uses the purified enzyme for the specific dehydrogenation of androsterone to androstanedione. The enzyme used is 3 alpha-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase which requires a cofactor (NAD). A cofactor regeneration is needed so that the process could work continuously. The conjugation of two points (immobilization of the enzyme and optimization of the ratio methanol-water) allows a continuous work of the enzyme during 25 days. Moreover, we propose a chemical regeneration of the cofactor using methoxy derivative of phenazine methosulphate. Right now it is the limiting step of the process. The second approach of steroid modification uses a whole mycelium of Aspergillus phoenicis for the specific hydroxylation of progesterone to 11 alpha-hydroxy progesterone. The transformation of 90% of the progesterone is obtained with calcium alginate immobilization and the lowest number of products is obtained at pH lower than 2.5 with carrageenan and polyurethane immobilization. It seems promising to apply immobilized biocatalysts to the bioconversion of hydrophobic compounds in organic solvents system.

Modification by immobilization of the microenvironment of chromatophores of Rhodopseudomonas capsulata. The influence on light-induced ADP phosphorylation coupled to cyclic electron transport.

Rhodopseudomonas capsulata chromatophores were immobilized with a co-crosslinking method. Immobilization was used as a tool for a defined modification of the chromatophore environment to study ATP production over a long period of time. The light-induced phosphorylation of ADP as a function of time was studied with chromatophores under different conditions: (a) native chromatophores with and without the hexokinase ATP-trapping system; (b) immobilized chromatophores without hexokinase, with the enzyme added in the bulk solution and with the enzyme co-immobilized in the matrix. The overall amount of ATP produced as a function of ADP concentration was studied for native and immobilized chromatophores. The global phosphorylation performed was also studied as a function of the amount of biological material used. The results can be explained by an effect of the ATP/ADP ratio. The results given by the immobilization show that the important point is not the ATP/ADP ratio in the bulk solution but the ratio value in the microenvironment of the chromatophore itself.

Recycling of NAD(+) using coimmobilized alcohol dehydrogenase andE. coli.

The use of immobilized enzymes has opened the possibility of large scale utilization of NAD(+)-linked dehydrogenases, but the applications of this technique were limited by the necessity of providing the large amounts of NAD(+) required by its stoichiometric consumption in the reaction. After immobilization of alcohol dehydrogenase and intactE. coli by glutaraldehyde in the presence of serum albumin, the respiratory chain was found to be capable of regenerating NAD(+) from NADH. This NAD(+) can be recycled at least 100 times, and thus the method is far more effective than any other, and, moreover, does not require NADH oxydase purification. The total NADH oxidase activity recovered was 10-30% of the initial activity.Although, NADH is unable to cross the cytoplasmic membrane, it was able to reach the active site of NADH dehydrogenase after immobilization. The best yield of NADH oxidase activity with immobilized bacteria was obtained without prior treatment of the bacteria to render them more permeable. The denaturation by heat of NADH oxidase in cells that are permeabilized was similar before and after immobilization. In contrast, the heat denaturation of soluble Β-galactosidase required either a higher temperature or a longer exposure after immobilization. The sensitivity of immobilized NADH oxidase to denaturation by methanol was decreased compared to permeabilized cells. As a result, it is clear that the system can function in the presence of methanol, which is necessary as a solvent for certain water insoluble substrates.

Magnetic enzyme membranes as active elements of electrochemical sensors: specific amino acid enzyme elctrodes.

The basic principle of the described magnetic enzyme electrodes is a kinetic accumulation of CO2 at the active layer electrode interface. The local pCO2 level is linked to three simultaneous phenomena: substrate diffusion in, enzyme reaction CO2 diffusion out. After a transient state there is a stationary state between the quantity of CO2 produced by the enzyme reaction and the CO2 diffusing from the active membrane to the bulk solution. Continuous determination of free amino acids in biological media is useful in biological processing, fermentation, medicine, pharmaceutical industries and biological research. No methods are presently available for any specific continuous measurement of lysine which is of nutritional importance in protein industrial syntheses; of phenylalanine and tyrosine which have to be monitored in several inborn diseases (phenylketonuria being the most important of them); of arginine and histidine which play a still imperfectly understood part in neurochemistry. The use of decarboxylase bearing membranes as sensors in such measurements could offer several novel advantages: (a) a simple device made of a currently manufactured electrode slightly modified by the use of an enzyme membrane; (b) The absence of any enzymic consumption due to the immobilization and the negligible consumption of substrate during the measurements; (c) The sensitivity which can be sharpened by a systematic study of the membrane parameters; (d) the continuous response of the electrode as long as it is in contact with the substrate solution; (e) the further feasibility as a miniature sensor. The magnetic device introduced allows obviously a convenient use of the enzyme electrode, the active part can be removed and replaced without disturbance for the pCO2 electrode itself. The enzyme electrodes are not only useful at the applied point of view but also at the fundamental point of view by allowing a direct measurement of an intra membrane concentration. The influence of simple structures on enzyme kinetics was studied with enzyme electrodes by our group, in the case of memory and oscillations obtained with enzyme systems.