Produção, caracterização parcial e purificação de colagenase produzida por Penicillium sp. UCP 1286 isolado da caatinga

Abstract

Collagen specific enzymes are capable of degrading triple helix of the native or denatured collagen. The search for new microbial collagenases has greatly increased over the years. A new strain of Penicillium sp. (UCP 1286) isolated from soil of Caatinga, an exclusively Brazilian biome, was selected for the production of collagenase. The culture medium used had only gelatin as a source of carbon and nitrogen. The collagenolytic activity achieved was about 2.7 times higher than the values reported in the literature, both for volumetric activity (379.79 U/mL) and specific activity (1460.77 U/mg) in a time interval of 126 hours of production. With factorial design application, enzyme production increased 65% compared to the preliminary results, equivalent to 632.70 U/mL of collagenolytic activity. The characterization of the enzyme showed that the optimum pH and temperature were, respectively, 9.0 and 37 °C. Due to the total inhibition by phenylmethylsulfonyl fluoride, the enzyme seems to be classified in the family of serinocollagenases. With regard to specificity, collagenase produced by Penicillium sp. UCP 1286 showed higher activity when used as a substrate azocoll, showing no activity when tested against the azocasein. Comparing the enzyme degradation capacity produced by Penicillium SP. With commercial enzyme produced by Clostridium histolyticum, the first presented more specific to type V collagen and gelatin. The major band observed in electrophoresis corresponded to the molecular weight of 37 kDa, and zimogram confirmed collagenolytic activity. The purification technique via aqueous two-phase system (ATPS) was effective for collagenase produced by Penicillium sp. UCP 1286. The run with better values of yield and partition coefficient were at runs on center point, using PEG 3350 g/mol at 15.0% (w/w) concentration, and phosphate at pH 7.0 and concentration 12.5% (w/w). Results indicate that the enzyme is a promising biotechnological product.