Enzymes are nature's catalysts and have great potential for sustainable processes from renewable resources. The adaptation of enzymes to the requirements of industrial processes is a prerequisite to harness their benefits in large-scale transformations for the synthesis of fine chemicals, food products, and pharmaceuticals. Immobilisation of wild-type or engineered enzymes using natural and synthetic carriers has been extensively employed to improve catalytic performance, ensure recovery and reuse, and thereby promote their use in industrial processes. Over the past three decades, significant progress has been achieved in the design and application of immobilised enzymes. Microgels as containers for protein immobilisation are advancing into a promising alternative as reflected by a growing body of literature that documents their use in sustainable catalytic processes. Microgels are crosslinked submicron-sized colloidal polymer networks and in this review, we summarise the progress in the synthesis and applications of enzyme-loaded microgels (μ-Gelzymes). We start by exploring the different approaches used for enzyme immobilisation on or within microgels and give representative examples for the use of μ-Gelzymes in different applications. Subsequently, the potential of μ-Gelzymes in achieving sustainable catalysis is discussed from a green chemistry perspective. Finally, we draw future directions for further improvement of biocatalytic μ-Gelzymes as an emerging interdisciplinary research field of interactive soft matter.

中文翻译：

---

生物催化微凝胶（μ-Gelzymes）：合成，概念和新兴应用

酶是自然界的催化剂，在利用可再生资源进行可持续生产方面具有巨大潜力。使酶适应工业过程的要求是在合成精细化学品，食品和药品的大规模转化中利用其益处的先决条件。使用天然和合成载体固定野生型或工程化酶已广泛用于改善催化性能，确保回收和再利用，从而促进其在工业过程中的使用。在过去的三十年中，固定化酶的设计和应用取得了重大进展。作为凝胶固定蛋白的容器，微凝胶正逐渐成为一种有前途的替代品，这反映在越来越多的文献中，这些文献证明了它们在可持续催化过程中的使用。微凝胶是交联的亚微米级胶体聚合物网络，在本综述中，我们总结了酶负载微凝胶（μ-Gel的合成和应用方面的进展酵素）。我们首先探索在微凝胶上或之内用于酶固定的不同方法，并给出在不同应用中使用μ-Gel酶的代表性实例。随后，从绿色化学角度讨论了μ-Gel酶在实现可持续催化方面的潜力。最后，我们为相互作用软物质的新兴跨学科研究领域，为进一步改善生物催化μ-Gel酶的发展指明了未来的方向。