Department of Organic Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel.
PLoS One. 2013 May 10;8(5):e63188. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0063188. Print 2013.
Membrane separation of biomolecules and their application in biocatalysis is becoming increasingly important for biotechnology, demanding the development of new biocompatible materials with novel properties. In the present study, an entirely noncovalent water-based material is used as a membrane for size-selective separation, immobilization, and biocatalytic utilization of proteins. The membrane shows stable performance under physiological conditions, allowing filtration of protein mixtures with a 150 kDa molecular weight cutoff (∼8 nm hydrodynamic diameter cutoff). Due to the biocompatibility of the membrane, filtered proteins stay functionally active and retained proteins can be partially recovered. Upon filtration, large enzymes become immobilized within the membrane. They exhibit stable activity when subjected to a constant flux of substrates for prolonged periods of time, which can be used to carry out heterogeneous biocatalysis. The noncovalent membrane material can be easily disassembled, purified, reassembled, and reused, showing reproducible performance after recycling. The robustness, recyclability, versatility, and biocompatibility of the supramolecular membrane may open new avenues for manipulating biological systems.
生物分子的膜分离及其在生物催化中的应用对于生物技术变得越来越重要，这需要开发具有新特性的新型生物相容性材料。本研究中，使用完全非共价的水基材料作为膜，用于蛋白质的尺寸选择性分离、固定化和生物催化利用。该膜在生理条件下表现出稳定的性能，允许对分子量截止值为 150 kDa（约 8nm 水动力直径截止值）的蛋白质混合物进行过滤。由于膜的生物相容性，过滤后的蛋白质保持功能活性，并且可以部分回收保留的蛋白质。过滤后，较大的酶被固定在膜内。它们在长时间内持续底物通量的情况下表现出稳定的活性，可用于进行非均相生物催化。非共价膜材料可轻松拆卸、纯化、重新组装和重复使用，在回收后表现出可重复的性能。超分子膜的坚固性、可回收性、多功能性和生物相容性可能为操纵生物系统开辟新途径。
