Enzyme encapsulation in layer-by-layer engineered polymer multilayer capsules

We report on the encapsulation of enzyme (catalase) by the controlled polymer multilayer coating of biocrystals, achieved by the sequential adsorption of oppositely charged polyelectrolytes onto enzyme crystal templates. An extremely high enzyme loading in each polymer capsule is obtained, and the activity of the encapsulated enzyme is preserved. The polymer-encapsulated enzyme is stable against protease degradation: The polymer-coated enzyme retains 100% of its activity after incubation for 100 min with protease, whereas uncoated, solubilized catalase loses more than 90% of its initial activity within 100 min under the same conditions. This simple, general, and versatile approach can potentially be applied for the encapsulation of various crystallized substances for catalysis and drug delivery applications.