Biocatalysts based on complexes of carbon nanomaterials with cysteine proteases

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to develop and study biocatalysts based on complexes of cysteine proteases with fullerenes and carbon nanotubes. During the formation of ficin complexes with fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, the activity of hybrid preparations was 70 and 45%, respectively. During the formation of papain complexes with fullerenes and carbon nanotubes, the proteolytic ability of the enzyme remained at the same level for the samples with fullerene and decreased by 27% for the preparations with carbon nanotubes. The formation of bromelain complexes with fullerenes and carbon nanotubes contributed to a decrease in the proteolytic activity of the biocatalyst by 18 and 48% as compared to the free enzyme. While determining the stability of complexes of nanomaterials and cysteine proteases during a 7-day incubation in 0.05 M tris-HCl buffer (pH 7.5) at 37 °C, we noticed a decrease in the proteolytic activity of the samples. Complexation with carbon nanoparticles and fullerenes increased the stability of ficin and bromelain, while the stability of papain in the complexes remained unchanged

Keywords

• cysteine proteases
• ficin
• papain
• bromelain
• fullerenes
• carbon nanotubes