DIFFUSION AND REACTION BEHAVIOR OF PROTEASES IN CATTLE HIDE MATRIX VIA FITC LABELED PROTEASES

Abstract

Enzymes play an important role in the biological treatment of animal skin collagen in the leather making process. In this work, three proteases (2709, LimeG and SoakL) with different molecular weight were used in the treatment of cattle hide. Protein and hydroxyproline absorbance was measured to evaluate the treatment effectively. Proteases labeled by Fluorescein Isothiocyanate (FITC) were used to treat the cattle hide to observe the diffusion and reaction behavior of proteases in cattle hide matrix. The results indicate that when the cattle hide was treated with smaller molecular weight protease, the degradation degree of the protein and collagen was more than that of the cattle hide treated with larger molecular weight protease. The fluorescence microscopy images demonstrate that during the early stages, proteases chiefly diffused into the cattle hide matrix through pores and hair follicles, and then diffused into the inner layer via hair follicles to hydrolyze inter-fibrillary proteins for opening up collagen fibers. In the present investigation, a visible assessment for the diffusion and reaction behavior of proteases in the enzymatic treatment of cattle hide matrix was reported.