Background: The immobilization of enzymes on nanofibers is being increasingly investigated for use in industry because of the potential recyclability of immobilized enzymes. Nanofibers are a particularly attractive structure for immobilization because they have higher porosity and interconnectivity than other structures (eg. mesoporous silica or nano particles) that have been investigated.
Objective: The purpose of our research is to determine the enzyme kinetics of the hydrolysis of lactose by 1) free lactase and 2) lactase immobilized on nanofibers. This allows us to compare and contrast the enzyme activity of the free versus immobilized enzyme. We use isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) to measure the enthalpy of the reaction and determine the rate and Michaelis-Menton constants. Our experiments determine the enzyme kinetics of lactase immobilized on nanofibers.
