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

Remarkable increases in enzyme catalytic stability resulting from addition of charged water‐soluble polymers have recently been reported, suggesting that use of these polymers may be an attractive general strategy for enzyme stabilization. To test the proposed hypothesis that coulombic forces between water‐soluble polymers and enzymes are primarily responsible for enzyme stabilization, we examined the catalytic stability and activity of two enzymes in the presence of polymers differing in net charge. All polymers tested increased enzyme lifetimes, regardless of their net charge, suggesting that stabilization of these enzymes by water‐soluble polymers is not solely dependent on simple electrostatic interactions between the polymers and enzymes. © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Biotechnol Bioeng 76: 241–246, 2001.