Purification, characterization and clinical applications of therapeutic fungal enzymes

Abstract

This book chapter presents an overview of therapeutic fungal enzymes and their developments in biopharmaceuticals for the treatment of several diseases, clinical applications and investigation. Enzymes are biocatalysts of many reactions with widespread use in the pharmaceutical industry and medicine. Due to their high specificity, greater affinity, and high catalytic efficiency, enzymes have been widely used for therapeutic purposes. More specifically, therapeutic enzymes are being used in the treatment of several diseases, such as leukemia, cancer, pancreatic disorders, etc. For instance, L-asparaginase, which presents antineoplastic properties, has been used for the treatment of leukemia, namely acute lymphoblastic leukemia. Nowadays, more than 50% of the enzymes are produced by fungal sources, including the therapeutic enzymes, due to the advantages of being an economically feasible and consistent process, since it has high yield and is easy for modification and optimization of new therapeutic products. In this book chapter, readers from academies, research institutes and industries will gain useful information and in-deep knowledge on the emerging therapeutic fungal enzymes, their purification processes, characterization and medical applications.