Uses Of Immobilized Biological Compounds

In Uses of Immobilized Biological Compounds the reader will find a comprehensive survey of the field written by acknowledged experts who met in Brixen, Italy, between May 9 and 14, 1993 for a NATO Advanced Research Workshop devoted to the topic. The resulting volume presents a critical review of the latest results in the area and sets guidelines for future research. The 53 reports presented here cover: (A) General Aspects of Immobilizing Biological Compounds; (B) Medical, Clinical and Pharmaceutical Applications; (C) Electrochemical Biosensors; (E) Defense Applications; (F) Immunosensors and Receptors; (G) Food, Environmental, Clinical and Analytical Applications; and (H) Biotechnology and Marketing. In short, all aspects of the area are presented, in a compact format which will appeal to undergraduates, technicians, and professional scientists in the food, clinical, environmental, pharmaceutical and industrial fields.

On May 4-8, 1987, a NATO Advanced Research Workshop on the Analytical Uses of Immobilized Biological Compounds was held in Florence, Italy. The Director of the Workshop was Professor George G. Guilbault of the University of New Orleans, and the Co-Director was Professor Marco Mascini of the University of Florence It vas the purpose of this meeting to assemble scientists from all NATO Countries with an interest in immobilized biological compounds. to discuss - methods of immobilization - properties of immobilized compounds - enzyme electrodes and biosensors - optical devices utilizing immobilized enzymes - microbial sensors and clinical uses of immobilized enzymes - flow injection analysis using enzymes - immobilized biological compounds in chemical defense detection - pharmaceutical analysis - uses in industrial analysis - enzyme reactors - air pollution detectors - immunosensors - medical uses and applications - solid state and FET sensors Goals to be achieved by the conference were - to permit an exchange of views and experience in all these areas - to review and critically assess the state-of-the-art in these fields - to set guidelines for future research and establish collaborative projects between scientists in NATO laboratories in the above areas. Thirty-seven lectures were given by 36 speakers in all of the above areas.

This book provides an overview of the immobilization of viable and non-viable cells, proteins, enzymes and active molecules, and their interaction with natural or synthetic carriers for performing biochemical and chemical reactions in vivo and in vitro.

Enzymes and whole cells are able to catalyze the most complex chemical processes under the most benign experimental and environmental conditions. In this way, enzymes and cells could be excellent catalysts for a much more sustainable chemical industry. However, enzymes and cells also have some limitations for nonbiological applications: fine chemistry, food chemistry, analysis, therapeutics, and so on. Enzymes and cells may be unstable, difficult to handle under nonconventional conditions, poorly selective toward synthetic substrates, and so forth. From this point of view, the transformation—from the laboratory to industry—of chemical processes catalyzed by enzymes and cells may be one of the most complex and exciting goals in biotechnology. For many industrial applications, enzymes and cells have to be immobilized, via very simple and cost-effective protocols, in order to be re-used over very long periods of time. From this point of view, immobilization, simplicity, and stabilization have to be strongly related concepts. Over the last 30 years, a number of protocols for the immobilization of cells and enzymes have been reported in scientific literature. However, only very few protocols are simple and useful enough to greatly improve the functional properties of enzymes and cells, activity, stability, selectivity, and related properties.

The application of immobilized enzymes in medicine is the main objective of this book. The author reviews natural and synthetic carriers for enzyme immobilization, chemistry of enzyme binding, and in-vitro and in-vivo properties of immobilized enzymes. Four chapters are dedicated to clinical use of immobilized enzymes.

Biomolecules and cells are critical components of biosensors and biomaterials, but in order to function in an artificial environment, they must be immobilized in a manner that does not affect their interaction with target analytes. Biosensors demonstrate that we can harness the incredible functions of living molecules and cells for our own purposes and are therefore at the forefront of technology. Moreover the applications of immobilized biomolecules and cells are expected to expand far beyond biosensor applications and indeed are already used for pharmaceutical production and testing. Biomaterials will become increasing common as they are being developed into toxic filters, artificial organs, and even silicon chips. This book provides a selection of methods for the immobilization of biomolecules and cells on a variety of surface with different geometries and chemistries so that they retain their function and guidelines on which method to use. Also included are the analytical techniques to measure the functionality of immobilized biomolecules. All the protocols have been tried and validated by the authors. Immobilized Biomolecules in Analysis: A Practical Approach is an invaluable guide to all researchers in the fields of biosensors and biomaterials. Research in biosensors is carried out in a wide variety of fields including biochemistry, chemistry, engineering, laboratory medicine, environmental and defence research. The protocols are written so that an extensive prior knowledge of biochemistry is not required to use them.