title: Mean-field model of immobilized enzymes embedded in a grafted polymer layer.
abstract: Two-dimensional mean-field lattice theory is used to model immobilization and stabilization of an enzyme on a hydrophobic surface using grafted polymers. Although the enzyme affords biofunctionality, the grafted polymers stabilize the enzyme and impart biocompatibility. The protein is modeled as a compact hydrophobic-polar polymer, designed to have a specific bulk conformation reproducing the catalytic cleft of natural enzymes. Three scenarios are modeled that have medical or industrial importance: 1), It is shown that short hydrophilic grafted polymers, such as polyethylene glycol, which are often used to provide biocompatibility, can also serve to protect a surface-immobilized enzyme from adsorption and denaturation on a hydrophobic surface. 2), Screening of the enzyme from the surface and nonspecific interactions with biomaterial in bulk solution requires a grafted layer composed of short hydrophilic polymers and long triblock copolymers. 3), Hydrophilic polymers grafted on a hydrophobic surface in contact with an organic solvent form a dense hydrophilic nanoenvironment near the surface that effectively shields and stabilizes the enzyme against both surface and solvent.
authors.affiliation: Department of Chemical Engineering, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel.
authors.forename: Yevgeny
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Moskovitz
authors.forename: Simcha
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Srebnik
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D001665:Binding Sites; D001672:Biocompatible Materials / Q000737:chemistry*; D019281:Dimerization; D004798:Enzymes / Q000737:chemistry; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry*; D008823:Micelles; D008958:Models, Molecular; D015233:Models, Statistical; D008968:Molecular Conformation; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols / Q000737:chemistry*; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry*; D011506:Proteins / Q000737:chemistry*; D012997:Solvents; D013499:Surface Properties; D013816:Thermodynamics
chemical_list: D001672:Biocompatible Materials; D004798:Enzymes; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized; D008823:Micelles; D011108:Polymers; D011506:Proteins; D012997:Solvents; D011092:Polyethylene Glycols