Construction of UCST-Responsive Claw-Like Polysulfobetaines for Efficient Capture of Cellulase

The high cost of enzymatic glycolysis has seriously restricted the industrialization of lignocellulose-based sugar platform technology. Recovering and recycling cellulase can reduce the cost. Here, a thermo-responsive claw-type polysulfobetaine (PSPA) was constructed for hydrophobic grasping and efficient recycling of cellulase. Compared with the linear sulfobetaine homopolymer (PSPE), PSPA had more sensitive temperature response and strong cellulase recovery ability. PSPE-3 (Mw=355.1 kDa) was added to the hydrolysis system of corncob residue (CCR) (50 °C), at 0.4 mass ratio of PSPE-3 to cellulase, and after enzymatic hydrolysis, 50% of the cellulase was saved when cooling to 25 °C. But only 0.05 times PSPA-1 (Mw=30.0 kDa) was added to the CCR system, and 70% of the cellulase was saved when cooling to 25 °C. This work presents a claw shaped protein-capture agent, polysulfobetaine for capturing cellulase, which is of great significance to reduce the lignocellulosic hydrolysis cost, and efficiently separate enzyme proteins.