Molecular Engineering as an Approach to Design New Functional Properties of Alginate

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• 作者：. A. Mrch ; I. Donati ; B. L. Strand ; G. Skjå ; k-Br&aelig ; k
• 刊名：Biomacromolecules
• 出版年：2007
• 出版时间：September 2007
• 年：2007
• 卷：8
• 期：9
• 页码：2809 - 2814
• 全文大小：283K
• 年卷期：v.8,no.9(September 2007)
• ISSN：1526-4602

文摘

Through enzymatic modification, we are now able to manipulate the composition and sequential nanostructuresof alginate, one of the most versatile gelling polymers found in nature. Here we report the application of a set ofprocessive polymer-modifying epimerases for the preparation of novel alginates with highly improved functionalproperties essential for numerous applications as gel matrices. Gels of enzymatically engineered alginate werefound to be more elastic and compact, less permeable, and extremely stable under physiological conditions, offeringsignificant advantages over native alginates. As a result, this study shows that, by controlling alginate nanostructure,its macroscopic properties can be highly controlled. The ability to tailor alginate has a great impact on the wideuse of this biomaterial in industry and medicine. More importantly, this adds more knowledge to the link betweenpolymer nanostructure and macroscopic properties and may serve as a model system for other polymer-basedmaterials.