Functional biocomposites for biomedical and sustainable applications

Enzymes are natural biomacromolecules, which offer incredible potential in applications of green chemistry, biotechnology and biotransformations and are therefore of incredible value in various fields, such as pharmaceuticals, biosensors, biofuel cells, food industry, wastewater treatments and biomedical applications. Enzymes were used as therapeutics since 19th century and have since gained an important role in pharmaceutical applications. Therapeutic enzymes, such as L-asparaginase (L-ASNase), superoxide dismutase (SOD), collagenase, streptokinase, glucosidase, amylase, β-galactosidase (β-gal), lipase and lysozyme are enzyme extensively used in biomedical applications and have the advantage that they can be specifically bind to their respective targets, which is in contrast to non-enzymatic drugs. Enzymes used in various sustainable applications, especially in any kind of wastewater treatments are oxidoreductases and hydrolases. Oxidoreductases are enzymes that catalyze the oxidation and reduction reaction which occurs within the cell. They have amazing biocatalytic potential and are applied into various applications. Since free enzymes possess many drawbacks, including their high costs due to difficulties regarding their extraction, separation and purification, they also have low tolerances, lack of reusability and poor stability in harsh environments, therefore hindering their thermal, pH and storage stability. For the purpose of industrializing the enzyme, its immobilization is one of the most important and studied strategies in order to improve and advance the performance of an enzyme under harsh industrial conditions. Immobilization methods therefore improve the stability and recoverability of natural enzymes, which is the primary goal of enzyme engineering sciences. The main challenge of the proposed project is to immobilize different therapeutic enzymes, such as L-ASNase, SOD or lysozyme, which have incredible potential in biomedical applications, as well as enzymes, such as peroxidase, laccase, lipase, ADH and others (i) onto different carrier supports, such as modified and surface functionalized iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles, (ii) into MOFs, (iii) use encapsulation within alginate, chitosan or pectin and carrageenan, and/or (iv) into CLEAs, in order to improve their activity and stability. Regarding therapeutic enzymes, with the recent advancements, there are still real challenges, which need to be encountered, most importantly finding the perfect enzyme formulation for suitable therapeutic administration. Various wastewater treatments are being researched with special emphasis on peroxidases, laccases, lipases, ADH and b-galactosidases for being implemented in degradation and detoxification of pollutants. However, despite effective research and multiple studies, there is still a gap between all the research being made and incorporating and exploiting enzymes remarkable abilities into large-scale wastewater treatments. Improving enzyme immobilization for this purpose is an effective and currently important way to overcome such issues and expand the applications of such enzymes into improving the environment and providing greener technologies for this purpose. Therefore, the project will be divided into four main work packages: WP1: Preparation of enzyme-based biocomposites for biomedical and sustainable applications WP2: Determination of enzyme activity and total protein content WP3: Characterization and stability study of immobilized enzyme-based biocomposites WP4: Application of enzyme-based biocomposites in various reactors