This was a paper I did for Industrial Enzymology; a Biotechnology elective course in my college. “Immobilization of urease using glycidyl methacrylate grafted nylon-6-membranes”

1. EmilioSolomon
5580132
March 11, 2015
“Immobilization of urease using glycidyl methacrylate grafted nylon-6-membranes”
Overview
In “Immobilizationof urease usingglycidyl methacrylategraftednylon-6-membranes”byA.
Baran Teke *, S¸.Hamarat Baysal isan investigationon the immobilizationof urease ongraftednylon-6-
membranes.First,the nylon-6-membranesweremodified,orgrafted. The nylon-6-membraneswere
washedwith alcoholicsolutionof benzophenone (BP) andethanol,addedwith glycidylmethacrylate
(GMA) monomerand exposedtoUV radiation.Once the nylon-6-membraneswere modified,urease was
thenimmobilizedontothe modifiednylon-6-membranes.Duringenzyme immobilization,the pre-
activatednylon-6-membranesinteractedwith0.5M, pH 7 phosphate buffersolution,containingurease
at a concentrationof 1 mg/ml at 4⁰ C for 14 hours. Afterimmobilization, the enzyme activitywas
determinedusingatechnique,calledthe Berhelote methodandspectrophotometer(630 nm). Fromthe
obtainedresults, itwasfoundthatbothinitiatorandmonomerconcentrationshadaneffectonthe
immobilizationof urease ontothe modifiednylon-6-membranes. Whenanalyzingthe BPor initiator
concentrations,itwasfoundthatimmobilizationefficiencyincreasedas initiatorconcentration
increased.Asforthe GMA or monomerconcentrations,itwasfoundthat immobilizationefficiency
increasedas monomerconcentration increased. However,bothinitiatorandmonomerconcentrations
increasedtoa certainpoint,before decreasing. Otherfactorssuchas the solvent/mediumandurease,
itself alsoplayed importantroles inthe immobilizationprocess.The nylon-6-membraneswere testedon
varioussolvents/media,includingethanol,methanol,andchloroform.Itwasfoundthatmethanol
workedbestasa solventforthe immobilizationof urease ontothe modifiednylon-6-membranes,

2. whereasethanol andchloroformwere notaseffective.Thiswasmainlybecause,methanol wascapable
of permeatingthe membrane structure better,comparedwith ethanol andchloroform. Furthermore,
the immobilizationefficiencyincreased,asthe concentrationof urease increased,butonlytoa certain
point.The decrease inimmobilizationefficiency,denotedaconstantnumberof active sitesof urease on
the surface of the membrane.Thisinvestigationisparticularlyuseful formedicine.Urease,which
catalyzesthe hydrolysisof ureato ammoniaandcarbon dioxide hasbeenused inkidneymachinesfor
blooddetoxification. Itisalsousedforremovingureafrombeveragesandfoodsinthe foodindustry,as
well asfor effluenttreatmentinagriculture.