Self-assembling lipolytic hydrogels

Abstract

Background: Enzymatically active biomaterials, which are used in a variety of applications, such as tissue engineering and biosensors, have been the subject of research. Protein engineers created self-assembling enzymes as a result of improvements in the manufacturing and design of peptide-based biomaterials. In this regard, enzymes with cross-linking domains make it possible to create biomaterials that have a number of benefits, such as simple low-cost production, homogenous dispersion of activity in the hydrogel, and the ability to co-localize enzymes, which can all work together to increase the protein’s stability. Method: To test this theory, we combined lipases with leucine zipper domains to produce enzyme building blocks that self-assembled into lipolytic hydrogels. In this work, a chimeric protein with self-assembling capabilities was produced by introducing leucine zippers through a pET plasmid into the hydrogel-forming triblock polypeptide and the gene of interest. The chimaera was shown to have improved solubility and stability as well as the ability to form soluble aggregates. Additionally, the hydrogel’s catalytic capabilities for several substrates were investigated. Results: It could be concluded that the triblock peptide increased the solubility of protein by reducing the inclusion body formation. Thereby, increasing the purified protein concentration. In order to create bifunctional lipolytic hydrogels, the study combines the self-assembly function of leucine zippers with the catalytic activity of lipase. The self-assembling enzymatic gels offer an attractive method for in vivo enzyme entrapment with wide applications.

Keywords:

• α-helical coiled-coils
• triblock peptide
• self-assembled lipase
• hydrogel

Acknowledgements

The author is thankful to Department of Biotechnology, India for providing her with research fellowship to carry out this work. The entire work was performed at the DBT-ICT Centre for Energy Biosciences, Institute of Chemical Technology, Mumbai.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethics approval and consent to participate

Not applicable.

Consent for publication

Written informed consent has been obtained from the patient(s) to publish this paper.

Authors contributions

SS, AML and AAO conceptualized and designed the experiments; SS collected and analyzed the data; and SS, AML and AAO wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

Availability of data and material

Data will be shared when asked by third parties.

Additional information

Funding

SS is thankful to Department of Science and Technology, India for providing her with research fellowship (grant number- ITS/1201/2016-17) to carry out this work.