Designing biological fluid inspired molecularly crowded ionic liquid media as a sustainable packaging platform for cytochrome c

Abstract

Biological fluids are highly crowded due to the presence of various biomolecules. Therefore, it is essential to study the effects of molecular crowding agents to probe the behavior of a protein in a cell-like environment. Inspired by biofluids, herein, a molecularly crowded environment is created in the presence of an ionic liquid (IL), envisaging sustainable protein packaging. Interestingly, the molecularly crowded IL media enhanced the stability and catalytic activity (1.5-fold higher) of cytochrome c (Cyt c) as compared to the IL alone and the crowding agents without the IL. A similar trend was observed when the activity was recorded at 100 °C and when stored at room temperature for 30 days. Moreover, Cyt c dissolved in the molecularly crowded IL media was regenerated successfully without affecting the melting temperature of the protein, confirming the suitability of the molecularly crowded IL media as a potential and ecofriendly packaging system for Cyt c.