Abstract
The application of the amidohydrolase enzyme, L-asparaginase (ASNase), as a biocatalyst in the food and pharmaceutical industries has garnered significant interest. However, challenges such as hypersensitivity reactions, limited stability, and reusability under various operational conditions have hindered its cost-effective utilization. This paper introduces a novel nano-support for ASNase immobilization, namely the nanocomposite of iron oxide magnetic nanoparticles and amino acid-decorated graphene oxide (GO-Asp-Fe(3)O(4)). Characterization using FTIR spectroscopy, FE-SEM, and TEM microscopy revealed the homogeneous distribution of iron oxide nanoparticles on the surface of GO sheets. The effects of carrier functionalization and carrier-to-protein ratio on the immobilization of ASNase were studied to optimize the immobilization conditions. The magnetized nanocomposite of ASNase exhibited a 4.4-fold lower Michaelis-Menten constant (Km), suggesting an enhanced affinity for the substrate. The immobilized ASNase demonstrated two to eight times higher thermostability compared to the free enzyme and showed an extremely extended pH stability range. Furthermore, the immobilized enzyme retained over 80 % of its initial bioactivity after eight repeated reaction cycles. These findings suggest that the immobilization of ASNase on GO-Asp- Fe(3)O(4) nanocomposite could be a viable option for industrial applications.