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Enzyme Kinetic Studies (enzyme + kinetic_studies)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Chemistry	50%

Selected Abstracts

Regulation of the catalytic behaviour of L-form starch phosphorylase from sweet potato roots by proteolysis

PHYSIOLOGIA PLANTARUM, Issue 4 2002
Han-Min Chen
Starch phosphorylase (SP) is an enzyme used for the reversible phosphorolysis of the ,-glucan in plant cells. When compared to its isoform in an animal cell, glycogen phosphorylase, a peptide containing 78 amino acids (L78) is inserted in the centre of the low-affinity type starch phosphorylase (L-SP). We found that the amino acid sequence of L78 had several interesting features including the presence of a PEST region, which serves as a signal for rapid degradation. Indeed, most L-SP molecules isolated from mature sweet potato roots were nicked in the middle of a molecule, but still retained their tertiary or quaternary structures, as well as full catalytic activity. The nicking sites on the L78 were identified by amino acid sequencing of these peptides, which also enabled us to propose a proteolytic process for L-SP. Enzyme kinetic studies of L-SP in the direction of starch synthesis indicated that the Km decreased during the proteolytic process when starch was used as the limiting substrate, but the Km for the other substrate (Glc-1-P) increased. On the other hand, the maximum velocities (Vmax) increased for both substrates. Mobility of the nicked L-SP was retarded on a native polyacrylamide gel containing soluble starch, indicating the increased affinity for starch. Results in this study suggested that L78 and its proteolytic modifications might play a regulatory role on the catalytic behaviour of L-SP in starch biosynthesis. [source]

Expression and characterization of active site mutants of hevamine, a chitinase from the rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis

FEBS JOURNAL, Issue 3 2002
Evert Bokma
Hevamine is a chitinase from the rubber tree Hevea brasiliensis. Its active site contains Asp125, Glu127, and Tyr183, which interact with the ,1 sugar residue of the substrate. To investigate their role in catalysis, we have successfully expressed wild-type enzyme and mutants of these residues as inclusion bodies in Escherichia coli. After refolding and purification they were characterized by both structural and enzyme kinetic studies. Mutation of Tyr183 to phenylalanine produced an enzyme with a lower kcat and a slightly higher Km than the wild-type enzyme. Mutating Asp125 and Glu127 to alanine gave mutants with ,,2% residual activity. In contrast, the Asp125Asn mutant retained substantial activity, with an approximately twofold lower kcat and an approximately twofold higher Km than the wild-type enzyme. More interestingly, it showed activity to higher pH values than the other variants. The X-ray structure of the Asp125Ala/Glu127Ala double mutant soaked with chitotetraose shows that, compared with wild-type hevamine, the carbonyl oxygen atom of the N -acetyl group of the ,1 sugar residue has rotated away from the C1 atom of that residue. The combined structural and kinetic data show that Asp125,and Tyr183 contribute to catalysis by positioning the,carbonyl oxygen of the N -acetyl group near to the C1 atom. This allows the stabilization of a positively charged transient intermediate, in agreement with a previous proposal that the enzyme makes use of substrate-assisted catalysis. [source]

A potential role for isothermal calorimetry in studies of the effects of thermodynamic non-ideality in enzyme-catalyzed reactions,

JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR RECOGNITION, Issue 5 2004
Thierry G. A. Lonhienne
Abstract Attention is drawn to the feasibility of using isothermal calorimetry for the characterization of enzyme reactions under conditions bearing greater relevance to the crowded biological environment, where kinetic parameters are likely to differ significantly from those obtained by classical enzyme kinetic studies in dilute solution. An outline of the application of isothermal calorimetry to the determination of enzyme kinetic parameters is followed by considerations of the nature and consequences of crowding effects in enzyme catalysis. Some of those effects of thermodynamic non-ideality are then illustrated by means of experimental results from calorimetric studies of the effect of molecular crowding on the kinetics of catalysis by rabbit muscle pyruvate kinase. This review concludes with a discussion of the potential of isothermal calorimetry for the experimental determination of kinetic parameters for enzymes either in biological environments or at least in media that should provide reasonable approximations of the crowded conditions encountered in vivo. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Evaluation of SupermixTM as an in vitro model of human liver microsomal drug metabolism

BIOPHARMACEUTICS AND DRUG DISPOSITION, Issue 5 2002
Karthik Venkatakrishnan
Abstract SUPERMIXTM is a commercially available formulation of insect cell-expressed human drug-metabolizing cytochrome P450 (CYP) isoforms, mixed in proportions that are optimized to parallel their relative activities in human liver microsomes. We have evaluated the apparent functional affinity and capacity of individual CYP isoforms in SUPERMIXTM in comparison with microsomes from a panel of 12 human livers, using enzyme kinetic studies of isoform-selective index reactions. In addition, we have measured the concentration of NADPH cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (OR) in SUPERMIXTM and compared it with the concentrations of this accessory electron transfer protein in human liver microsomes. No important differences were evident in the catalytic activities of CYPs 1A2, 2C8, 2C9, 2C19, 2D6 and 3A4 between SUPERMIXTM and human liver microsomes. However, SUPERMIXTM lacks CYP2B6 activity and did not hydroxylate the antidepressant bupropion, a clinically relevant substrate of this enzyme. In addition, the concentration of OR in SUPERMIXTM (1198 pmol mg protein,1) is 17-fold higher than the mean value in human liver microsomes (70 pmol mg protein,1). In conclusion, SUPERMIXTM lacks CYP2B6 activity and contains supraphysiological concentrations of the accessory electron transfer protein OR. These factors should be considered when this formulation is used as an in vitro model in human liver microsomal drug metabolism studies. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]