Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
characterizations of the obtained products were performed by the
same manners as those for the product from Diacid-8 and Diol-8 as
described earlier. Consequently, it was indicated that the polyesters
having methylene units of 10 and 12 were hardly included in the
cavity of amylose. Furthermore, the
1
H NMR results of the products
suggested that relatively larger amounts of Diacid-10 and Diacid-12
were included in the cavity of amylose compared with the case of the
inclusion complex obtained using Diacid-8 and Diol-8. Because the
hydrophobicities of Diacid-10 and Diacid-12 are stronger than those
of Diacid-8, they would be readily included in the cavity of amylose.
Actually, when amylose-forming polymerization were investigated
in the presence of Diacid-8, Diacid-10, or Diacid-12, individually, the
dicarboxylic acids having larger numbers of methylene units were
easily included in the cavity of amylose. These results indicated
that Diacid-10 and Diacid-12 were predominantly included in the
cavity of amylose in the parallel enzymatic polymerization system
to disturb the inclusion of the polyesters. In addition, the polyesters
obtained using Diacid-10, Diacid-12, Diol-10, and Diol-12 would be
aggregated in the aqueous buffer more than those obtained using
Diacid-8 and Diol-8 due to stronger hydrophobicity, and accordingly
separated from the cavity of amylose.
8.3
Preparation of Hydrogels through the
Formation of Inclusion Complex of Amylose
Polymeric hydrogels are three-dimensional polymer networks
including a large amount of water, which have been used in a variety
of applications because of their high water contents and softness
[10]. They are conventionally classified as either chemical or physical
gels by the type of cross-linking points. The type of cross-linking
structure often determines the properties of the hydrogels.
Because amylose is a biopolymer, it can be enzymatically
produced by phosphorylase [11] and hydrolyzed by amylase [12],
respectively. Therefore, the hydrogels with cross-linking structure
based on amylose have a possibility for the behavior of enzymatic
disruption and reproduction of the hydrogels by two enzyme-
catalyzed reactions, i.e., the amylase-catalyzed hydrolysis of amylose
and the formation of amylose by the phosphorylase-catalyzed
polymerization.
