Enzyme in a cage: Bielefeld researchers break through the 100-degree heat barrier
A lipase enclosed in a porous polymer works at 100 degrees Celsius and above. This could enable solvent-free production of esters for cosmetics, fragrances and plastics.
Archive image · Photo: Gunnar Klack / Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0 (cropped and resized)
Enzymes are sought-after tools in chemistry, but at high temperatures they usually lose their shape and with it their function. A team at Bielefeld University led by chemist Prof. Harald Gröger has now enclosed a lipase in a porous, three-dimensional organic polymer cage instead of attaching it to surfaces. The pores let starting materials in and products out but protect the enzyme from unfolding. Without this protection, the lipase largely loses its activity.
At 100 degrees Celsius, the enclosed enzyme worked about twice as fast as at room temperature, and its performance remained almost unchanged over twelve reaction cycles. One reaction ran at 110 degrees, and the approach worked up to 120 degrees. No organic solvents were needed because the starting materials were used in molten form. The group of physicist Prof. Andreas Hütten examined the material's structure using electron microscopy.
The university sees applications in producing esters for cosmetics, fragrances and plastics, whose starting materials often only melt above 100 degrees. Talks with companies have already taken place. Long-term stability, scale-up to technical processes and extension to other enzymes are still open. The study, with Dr Jianing Yang as first author, was published online in July.