Analytical Characterization and Purification of a Commercial Extract of Enzymes: a Case Study

CARLOS E.F. LLERENA-SUSTER; SUSANA R. MORCELLE DEL VALLE; LAURA E. BRIAND

COLLOIDS AND SURFACES B-BIOINTERFACES

ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV

Lugar: Amsterdam; Año: 2014 vol. 121 p. 11 - 20

0927-7765

This paper presents a rational strategy to identify and quantify the components of a commercial extract of the lipase B of Candida antarctica that can be extended to the analytical investigation of other crude extracts of enzymes. These information provided the fundamental knowledge for the development of a methodology to obtain highly pure and catalytically active CALB enzyme. In this context, the commercial extract Lipozyme® was subjected to a series of analytical techniques that allowed determining the presence of a non-soluble fraction; nucleic acids; benzoate and sorbate species and a mixture of three proteins. Particularly, it is worth noticing that the Bradford assay using CALB as standard instead of BSA proved to be a more reliable and accurate methodology to quantify the protein content of the assayed enzymatic samples. Size exclusion chromatography coupled with anionic exchange chromatography using a non conventional, easy to remove buffer system such as ammonia-ammonium acetate afforded a sample that retains 47% of the proteins (being CALB the only enzymatic component of the purified sample) with an hydrolytic activity higher than the crude extract.