Enzymatic analysis, concentration determination

Enzymes play an important role in biochemical analysis. In biological material—e. g in body fluids—even tiny quantities of an enzyme can be detected by measuring its catalytic activity. However, enzymes are also used as reagents to determine the concentrations of metabolites—e.g., the blood glucose level (C). Most enzymatic analysis procedures use the method of spectrophotometry (A). 

Aldehyde Levels in Different Varieties and Styles of Wine. The derivatization procedure described above was used to determine aldehyde levels in several different wines (Table 4). The wines were made in the UCD Department of Viticulture and Enology winery using standard procedures. As expected, acetaldehyde was the predominant aldehyde in all samples, with highest levels observed in the Sherry (Table 3). The acetaldehyde concentrations are consistent with those obtained by enzymatic analysis of acetaldehyde in table wines and Sherries (38). 

Figure 72. Several measurements with known glucose concentration are plotted on a diagram calculated from the theoreticar AW values for this aliquot. Note the thermopile and the set-up was not optimized further. The only drawback is the fact that both enzymes are lost after each determination as they are part of the receptor buffer solution. This is also the case in traditional enzymatic analysis with photometric evaluation. Here, only a so-called. spectral-line photometer can work without further calibration...

Differentiation between reaction mechanisms can be achieved by careful scmtiny of the K versus substrate concentration patterns (Fig. 7.4). The adage that a picture tells a thousand words is quite applicable in this instance. It is difficult to determine the mechanism of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction from steady-state kinetic analysis. The determination of the mechanism of an enzymatic reaction is neither a trivial task nor an easy task. The use of dead-end inhibitors and alternative substrates, study of the patterns of product inhibition, and isotope-exchange experiments... 

Similarly to quantitative determination of high surfactant concentrations, many alternative methods have been proposed for the quantitative determination of low surfactant concentrations. Tsuji et al. [270] developed a potentio-metric method for the microdetermination of anionic surfactants that was applied to the analysis of 5-100 ppm of sodium dodecyl sulfate and 1-10 ppm of sodium dodecyl ether (2.9 EO) sulfate. This method is based on the inhibitory effect of anionic surfactants on the enzyme system cholinesterase-butyryl-thiocholine iodide. A constant current is applied across two platinum plate electrodes immersed in a solution containing butyrylthiocholine and surfactant. Since cholinesterase produces enzymatic hydrolysis of the substrate, the decrease in the initial velocity of the hydrolysis caused by the surfactant corresponds to its concentration. Amounts up to 60 pg of alcohol sulfate can be spectrometrically determined with acridine orange by extraction of the ion pair with a mixture 3 1 (v/v) of benzene/methyl isobutyl ketone [271]. 

Total protein, albumin, urea (standard methods) and middle molecules (MM) were determined in citrated plasma [6]. The trypsin-like activity (TLA) of plasma was measured using the chromogenic peptide substrate (Z-glycyl-glycyl-L-arginine-4-nitroanilide) [7]. Evaluation of anti-enzymatic potential in plasma was based on concentrations of the main protease inhibitors -proteinase inhibitor (ttj-PI) and aj-macroglobulin (a -M). Student s t-test was used for statistical analysis. 

What factors can be used to predetermine the quality and utility of a method An analyst must consider the following questions Do I need a proximate analytical method that will determine all the protein, or carbohydrate, or lipid, or nucleic acid in a biological material Or do I need to determine one specific chemical compound among the thousands of compounds found in a food Do I need to determine one or more physical properties of a food How do I obtain a representative sample What size sample should I collect How do I store my samples until analysis What is the precision (reproducibility) and accuracy of the method or what other compounds and conditions could interfere with the analysis How do I determine whether the results are correct, as well as the precision and accuracy of a method How do I know that my standard curves are correct What blanks, controls and internal standards must be used How do I convert instrumental values (such as absorbance) to molar concentrations How many times should I repeat the analysis And how do I report my results with appropriate standard deviation and to the correct number of significant digits Is a rate of change method (i.e., velocity as in enzymatic assays) or a static method (independent of time) needed ... 

Kinetic analysis was used to characterize enzyme-catalyzed reactions even before enzymes had been isolated in pure form. As a rule, kinetic measurements are made on purified enzymes in vitro. But the properties so determined must be referred back to the situation in vivo to ensure they are physiologically relevant. This is important because the rate of an enzymatic reaction can depend strongly on the concentrations of the substrates and products, and also on temperature, pH, and the concentrations of other molecules that activate or inhibit the enzyme. Kinetic analysis of such effects is indispensable to a comprehensive picture of an enzyme. 

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