Abstract
Chitin, an insoluble linear polymer of β-1,4-N-acetyl-d-glucosamine (GlcNAc; A), can be converted to chitosan, a soluble heteropolymer of GlcNAc and d-glucosamine (GlcN; D) residues, by partial deacetylation. In nature, deacetylation of chitin is catalyzed by enzymes called chitin deacetylases (CDA) and it has been proposed that CDAs could be used to produce chitosan. In this work, we show that CDAs can remove up to approximately 10% of N-acetyl groups from two different (α and β) chitin nanofibers, but cannot produce chitosan.
Highlights
Chitin, the second most abundant biopolymer in nature, is a crystalline linear polysaccharide containing β-1,4 linked N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc, A) residues
The fraction of acetylated units (FA ) in both α- and β-chitin nanofibers after incubation with VcCDA at 37 ◦ C was determined at different time points (Figure 2)
Calculations show that the removal of a GlcNAc dimer from chitin crystal comes with a thermodynamic penalty of 8 kcal/mol [24]
Summary
The second most abundant biopolymer in nature, is a crystalline linear polysaccharide containing β-1,4 linked N-acetyl glucosamine (GlcNAc, A) residues. It is a common structural component in cell walls of yeast and fungi and in the exoskeletons of insects, crustaceans, and parasitic nematodes [1,2]. Alpha-chitin is the most common chitin form It contains GlcNAc chains in an antiparallel orientation [3], and it is found in insects, crustaceans, fungi, and yeast. In γ-chitin, the rarest crystalline form of chitin found in insects and in the stomach of the Loligo squid, two GlcNAc chains are oriented in one direction and the third runs in the opposite direction [3,5]. The individual chitin chains are held together by hydrogen bonds [3]
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