title: Agarose and Its Derivatives as Supports for Enzyme Immobilization.
abstract: Agarose is a polysaccharide obtained from some seaweeds, with a quite particular structure that allows spontaneous gelation. Agarose-based beads are highly porous, mechanically resistant, chemically and physically inert, and sharply hydrophilic. These features-that could be further improved by means of covalent cross-linking-render them particularly suitable for enzyme immobilization with a wide range of derivatization methods taking advantage of chemical modification of a fraction of the polymer hydroxyls. The main properties of the polymer are described here, followed by a review of cross-linking and derivatization methods. Some recent, innovative procedures to optimize the catalytic activity and operational stability of the obtained preparations are also described, together with multi-enzyme immobilized systems and the main guidelines to exploit their performances.
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università di Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy. pzucca@unica.it.
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Zucca
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biocatalisis, ICP-CSIC; C/Marie Curie 2, Campus UAM-CSIC, Madrid 28049, Spain. rfl@icp.csic.es.
authors.forename: Roberto
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Fernandez-Lafuente
authors.affiliation: Dipartimento di Scienze Biomediche, Università di Cagliari, 09042 Monserrato (CA), Italy. sanjust@unica.it.
authors.forename: Enrico
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Sanjust
mesh_terms: D000362:Agar / Q000737:chemistry; D004795:Enzyme Stability; D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized / Q000737:chemistry*; D007103:Immobilization / Q000379:methods; D012685:Sepharose / Q000031:analogs & derivatives* / Q000737:chemistry*
chemical_list: D004800:Enzymes, Immobilized; D000362:Agar; D012685:Sepharose
keywords: agar-agar; agarose; cross-linking; enzymes; functionalization; immobilization; stabilization