Immobilization of Urease Enzyme on Amyloid Nano- biofibrils from Bovine Serum Albumin

The urease enzyme (EC.3.5.1.5) is from hydrolase group that catalyzes urea hydrolysis to ammonia and carbon dioxide. This enzyme has various applications in nitrogen metabolism, vaccine preparation, urea diagnosis kits, drinking industries, and so on. In this study, amyloid nano-fibrils from bovine serum albumin were used as a new scaffold for immobilizing the urease enzyme. The production of amyloid nano–fibers has been optimized with three techniques of Congord specrophotometry, Spectrofluorimetry and Spectropolarimetry, and the resulting fibrils have been confirmed by electron microscopy images. Then the urease enzyme was immobilized on the amyloid fibrils using glutaraldehyde molecules via cross-linked bridges and their kinetic factors were compared with the free enzyme. The highest amount of amyloid fibrils was obtained after 48 hours incubation of bovine serum albumin at a concentration of 10 mg.ml-1 and 70 ºC in a citrate-phosphate buffer pH 4. The immobilized enzyme had more reusability and stability than the free form and showed a higher activity and a smaller Km. Optimum temperature was improved from 40 ºC to 70 ºC and optimum pH was also improved from 6–7 to 6–9 in immobilized enzyme. In conclusion, amyloid fibrils with different chemical groups have been suitable for immobilization of urea enzyme. Improvement of kinetic properties and stability of urease enzyme by immobilizing on amyloid fibers allows for the widespread use of this enzyme in the related industries.