{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,10,20]],"date-time":"2026-10-20T03:48:28Z","timestamp":1792468108130,"version":"4.5.0"},"reference-count":28,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"8","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1785715200000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"State Assignment of the Russian Federation","award":["075-00224-26-02"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["075-00224-26-02"]}]},{"name":"P.L. Kapitsa grant program"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Oral enzyme replacement therapy for lactase deficiency is limited by the rapid degradation of free \u03b2-galactosidase in the gastrointestinal tract. To overcome this, \u03b2-galactosidase was encapsulated into polyelectrolyte microcapsules (PMCs) via layer-by-layer assembly using MnCO3 sacrificial templates, with CaCO3-based PMCs as a reference. MnCO3-PMCs achieved 99.4% encapsulation efficiency and retained 85.8% of initial activity, significantly outperforming CaCO3-PMCs (86.0% and 29.7%). Under simulated gastric conditions (pH 2.0, pepsin), the free enzyme and CaCO3-PMCs were completely inactivated, whereas MnCO3-PMCs preserved ~86% activity. In simulated intestinal fluid, MnCO3-PMCs exhibited a 4.3-fold activity increase within the first hour and maintained a 2.5-fold enhancement after 70 h, while the free enzyme progressively inactivated. Furthermore, MnCO3-PMCs demonstrated superior storage stability, retaining 64% of initial activity after 90 days at 4 \u00b0C, compared with 25% for CaCO3-PMCs. Although immobilization increased the Michaelis constant, the shift was smaller for MnCO3-PMCs (8.9-fold) than for CaCO3-PMCs (15.2-fold). In conclusion, MnCO3-templated PMCs effectively protect \u03b2-galactosidase from gastrointestinal degradation, sustain prolonged catalytic activity, and offer excellent storage stability, highlighting their strong potential for improving oral enzyme replacement therapy in lactose intolerance.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels12080685","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]],"date-time":"2026-08-03T12:57:56Z","timestamp":1785761876000},"page":"685","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":1,"title":["Polyelectrolyte Microcapsules Enhance the Stability of \u03b2-Galactosidase Under Simulated Gastrointestinal Conditions"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Yuri S.","family":"Chebykin","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics Russian Academy of Science, Institutskaya St., 3, 142290 Puschino, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8129-9635","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Aleksandr L.","family":"Kim","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Moscow Polytechnic University (Moscow Polytech), Bolshaya Semyonovskaya Str., 38, 107023 Moscow, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0537-9537","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Sergey A.","family":"Tikhonenko","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Theoretical and Experimental Biophysics Russian Academy of Science, Institutskaya St., 3, 142290 Puschino, Russia"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,8,3]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Hashim, I.A. 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