We will present a poster at the 94th Symposium of Japanese Society of Enzyme Engineering, to be held on Friday, November 21, 2025, at Digital Multi-Purpose Hall, Institute of Science Tokyo.
Title：Enhancement of Enzyme Thermal Stability with a Zwitterionic Polymer Hydrogel
Presenters: Satoshi Yamashita*, Shin Yoshida, and Madoka Takai
Our developed zwitterionic polymer is a novel hydrogel material that combines excellent biocompatibility with a strong enzyme-stabilizing effect, making it promising for a wide range of applications. In this study, we report that simply mixing the polymer with enzymes—without any chemical bonding—significantly enhances their thermal stability, outperforming conventional stabilizers such as polysaccharides and PEG. In particular, experiments with β-galactosidase demonstrated that enzyme activity was maintained while thermal deactivation under high-temperature conditions was effectively suppressed. These findings indicate that our zwitterionic polymer functions as an efficient additive for maintaining enzyme activity over extended periods, offering great potential for applications in the food, pharmaceutical, and biomanufacturing industries.
Title: Immobilization of enzymes with zwitterionic polymer hydrogels and their applications
Presenters: Maki Itoh*, Yuya Fukui, Shin Yoshida, and Madoka Takai
Our hydrogels based on polymers containing zwitterionic groups are attracting attention in various applications, due to their biocompatibility. Characteristics including thermal stability and durability to proteases were improved by covalently bonding enzymes to the hydrogel polymers. Immobilization of the bonded polymer-enzyme conjugates onto inorganic particles enabled repeated use of the enzyme, which was not easy with non-conjugated enzymes. Compared with traditional particle immobilization approaches, including physical adsorption and chemical linking of just enzymes, use of the hydrogels allowed to keep high activity in repeated use.