13] Use of monoclonal antibodies for the preparation of highly active immobilized enzymes

Abstract

This chapter describes a novel method for the preparation of highly active immobilized enzymes. The method is based on the binding of enzymes to suitable carriers through monoclonal antibodies that bind to the enzyme with high affinity without affecting its catalytic activity. The cell fusion technique developed by Köhler and Milstein makes it possible to prepare a great variety of monoclonal antibodies directed toward specific, well-defined antigenic sites of a protein. The available data suggest that for many enzymes it might be possible to prepare corresponding monoclonal antibodies that bind to them with high affinity without affecting their catalyic activity. Binding of such antibodies to insoluble carriers should thus yield carrier-monoclonal antibody conjugates that bind readily with the corresponding enzymes to yield highly active immobilized enzymes. In such immobilized enzyme preparations, the enzyme is bound through a specific, preselected, well-defined site of the enzyme.