Effects of charged water-soluble polymers on the stability and activity ofyeast alcohol dehydrogenase and subtilisin Carlsberg

Remarkable increases in enzyme catalytic stability resulting from addition of charged water-soluble polymers have recently been reported, suggesting t hat use of these polymers may be an attractive general strategy for enzyme stabilization. To test the proposed hypothesis that coulombic forces betwee n water-soluble polymers and enzymes are primarily responsible for enzyme s tabilization, we examined the catalytic stability and activity of two enzym es in the presence of polymers differing in net charge. All polymers tested increased enzyme lifetimes, regardless of their net charge, suggesting tha t stabilization of these enzymes by water-soluble polymers is not solely de pendent on simple electrostatic interactions between the polymers and enzym es. (C) 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.