Manifestation of the Supramolecular Effect in the Enzymatic Hydrolysis of Sodium Carboxymethyl Cellulose

Abstract

Manifestation of the supramolecular effect in reactions of the enzymatic hydrolysis of sodium carboxymethyl cellulose is studied. The occurrence of enzymatic hydrolysis under the action of nonspecific enzyme hyaluronidase is confirmed by the method of reducing sugars. The supramolecular structure of the polymer in solution is controlled using the approach including the use of cosolvents (modifiers), with a number of alcohols (ethanol, propylene glycol, and glycerol) being used as modifiers. It is shown that as polymer concentration in solution increases above 0.3 g/dL the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis almost ceases to raise with increasing concentration. This finding is associated with diffusion hindrances arising in interaction of the polymer with the enzyme due to an increase in the degree of aggregation of macromolecules in solution and formation of the entanglement network. In the presence of the modifiers in solution, the rate of enzymatic hydrolysis slows down. This effect can be explained by several factors: first, a decrease in the sizes of the macromolecular coil and an earlier formation of the entanglement network and, as a consequence, reduction in the accessibility of polymer units for interaction with the enzyme. Second, the modifying additives decrease the total β-glycosidase activity of hyaluronidase. It is demonstrated that the features of enzymatic hydrolysis in solution persist in the case of film samples.