Patent · US Expired

Thin film membrane enzyme/coemzyme reactor and method of using same

US5057421A · kind A · utility

15Cited by
1References
29Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateApr 7, 1989
Grant dateOct 15, 1991
Priority date
Expiry dateApr 7, 2009

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC Y)Emerging Cross-Sectional Technologies
  • CPC primaryY10S435/817
  • WIPO fieldBiotechnology
  • WIPO sectorChemistry

Abstract

An enzyme reactor system is provided based on the entrapment of a coenzyme-requiring enzyme, a coenzyme, and a regeneration enzyme in a hydrogel layer coated on a support, and confined by an ultraporous thin film semipermeable membrane. The diffusion barrier confines the coenzyme-requiring enzyme, coenzyme, and regeneration enzyme but lets substrate and reaction products, exclusive of coenzyme, diffuse freely into and out of the hydrogel layer. In an alternate embodiment, the support is formed of an ultraporous thin film semipermeable membrane on a microporous or macroporous support, through which the reaction products, exclusive of coenzyme, can diffuse freely, but through which neither coenzyme-requiring enzyme, coenzyme, regeneration enzyme, nor substrate can pass. In this embodiment, the product is recovered in high purity, free of substrate, coenzyme-requiring enzyme, coenzyme, and regeneration enzyme. A constant supply of coenzyme for the enzyme reaction is assured by initially charging the hydrogel layer with an adequate supply of coenzyme. The problem of coenzyme depletion is solved by including a second enzyme in the hydrogel layer which regenerates the used coenzyme, thus…

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.