Characterization of enzyme-polymer interaction using fluorescence

The study of the interaction between free fluorophores or those attached to the enzyme (alcohol dehydrogenase) with polymer (Eastman AQ 55) using polarization and confocal microscopy has been performed. The potential of fluorescence to visualize the polymer structure as well as the distribution of incorporated species has been demonstrated in the case of Eastman AQ ^® 55 and Nafion^® polymer films. Negatively and positively charged probes were found to exhibit different distribution patterns, suggesting an electrostatic contribution to the probe-polymer interaction. In the case of enzyme, however, the charge introduced by the probe tagging did not alter the interaction or distribution of the enzyme in the polymer, suggesting that the distribution obtained for the tagged enzyme correctly represents the distribution of non-tagged enzyme.