Solubility control of enzymes by conjugation with stimulus-responsive polymers

Abstract

For development of bio-reactor enzymes stimuli-responsive polymers have been employed as immobilizing matrices. The stimuli-responsive polymers have been used for solubility control in water. Recently we first succeeded in the solubility control in organic media by conjugation with photo-responsive polymer. The polymer-conjugated enzymes can efficiently catalyze various chemical reactions in the soluble state and can be recovered by precipitation in response to the stimulation. In this review, the conjugation method and recent progress is described.

Keywords:

• Stimulus-responsive polymer
• solubility control
• enzyme conjugate
• bio-reactor