Lactose-Containing Hydrogels for Enzyme Stabilization

A lactose-containing monomer, N-(2-lactosylethyl) acrylamide, was synthesized and polymerized with N-hydroxyethyl acrylamide and 1 wt % of N, N'-methylenebis(acrylamide) and potassium persulfate as the initiator to produce hydrogels. The weight percent of N-(2-lactosylethyl) acrylamide were increased from 0 to 100% in increments of 10%. Hydrogels were successfully produced with up to 90 wt % of N-(2-lactosylethyl) acrylamide. Gelation was confirmed by inverted vial tests and rheology measurements. The as-prepared hydrogels were used for papain stabilization against heat burden and papain that was loaded into hydrogels showed 45% more activity after heating as compared to papain that was heated without hydrogel stabilization. This hydrogel stabilization technique has potential applications in preserving enzyme activity. (C) 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.