Thiolated dermal bovine collagen as a novel support for bioactive substances - conjugation with lysozyme

Thiol groups were introduced to dermal bovine collagen (DBC) by the reactio n with gamma -thiobutyrolactone. Thiolated DEC reacted with 2-pyridyl disul fide group introduced to lysozyme to form DBC-lysozyme conjugate through di sulfide bridge. The enzymatic activity of freshly prepared conjugate was al most unchanged during ten consecutive runs over one month. The DBC-lysome c onjugate showed the maximum activity at pH 6.3, on the contrary, that of na tive lysozyme was pH 9.0. Thermal stability of lysozyme was enhanced by the conjugation with DEC. The present results showed that the conjugation usin g thiolated collagen could be one of the useful alternative approaches to m odify collagen with bioactive molecules. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.