Collaborative Research: pH-Responsive capsules for Enhanced Delivery and Recovery of Cellulases for Biomass Hydrolysis

需要有效、高效和经济的转化技术，以满足使用生物原料生产液体燃料和其他高价值化学品的潜力。几十年来，将植物细胞壁结构碳水化合物酶解成可溶可发酵的糖在技术上是可以实现的。尽管在过去五年中取得了重大进展，但生物质水解用纤维素酶的经济生产和使用仍然是关键障碍。无论你是在寻找碳氢化合物还是廉价的纤维素乙醇，这都是事实。根据纽约州波茨坦克拉克森大学的Pis Minko和北达科他州立大学法戈分校的Voronov和Pryor的合作伙伴Pis Minko的说法，克服这些障碍的关键在于将酶放置在纳米结构的胶囊中。这些精心设计和制造的有机-无机混合微胶囊含有纤维素酶的鸡尾酒，可以将纤维素转化为可发酵的葡萄糖。这些独特的胶囊保护酶并保持其活性，允许酶的简单重复使用/回收过程，并提供了使用外部信号(如pH)调节酶反应的机会。这种通过包埋过程和磁分离促进的酶回收和再利用，预计将对生产生物质衍生糖的加工成本产生重大影响。PIS计划创建一个网站，作为两所大学研究小组之间共享数据和计划的一种手段，并允许公众访问该项目的各个方面。他们打算利用REU的机会和高中研究人员作为其外联努力的一部分。这对所有的研究人员来说都是一个具有挑战性的项目。在制造被包裹的酶的过程中，有许多合成化学成分都必须结合在一起。应用于酶的可逆包埋技术的成功开发将对许多工业过程产生深远的影响，并将是该领域的重大进步。

0966526MinkoEffective, efficient, and economical conversion technologies are needed to meet the potential of using biobased feedstocks to produce liquid fuels and other high-value chemicals. Enzymatic hydrolysis of plant cell wall structural carbohydrates into soluble and fermentable sugars has been technically achievable for decades. Despite significant advances in the past five years, the economical production and use of cellulase enzymes for biomass hydrolysis remain key hurdles. This is true whether one is seeking hydrocarbons or economical cellulosic ethanol. The key to conquering these obstacles according to the collaborating PIs Minko of Clarkson University in Potsdam, NY and Voronov and Pryor of North Dakota State University at Fargo rests in placing the enzymes in nanostructured capsules. These carefully designed and fabricated, hybrid organic-inorganic microcapsules are loaded with a cocktail of cellulase enzymes for the conversion of cellulose into fermentable glucose. These unique capsules protect the enzymes and preserve their activity, allow for a simple reuse/recovery process for the enzymes, and provide an opportunity to regulate enzymatic reactions using external signals, such as pH. This enzyme recovery and reuse, facilitated through the encapsulation process and magnetic separation, are expected to have significant impacts on processing costs to produce biomass-derived sugars. The PIs plan to create a website as a means of sharing data and plans between the research groups at the two universities, and to allow public access to follow aspects of the project. They intend to utilize REU opportunities and high school researchers as a part of their outreach efforts. This is a challenging project for all of the researchers. There are many synthetic chemistry components that all must come together in the fabrication of the encapsulated enzymes. The successful development of reversible encapsulation technology for applications of enzymes would have far-reaching implications in a number of industrial processes and would constitute a significant advance in the field.