Temperature effects, enzyme activity

The exposure of plants to low temperatures induces many changes in physiological and biochemical parameters. Many studies have attempted to investigate the relationship between low temperature and enzyme activities. The effects of low temperature treatments on the protein levels and on activity of some plant cell enzymes are reported in Table 1. 

Effect of Temperature and pH. The temperature dependence of enzymes often follows the rule that a 10°C increase in temperature doubles the activity. However, this is only tme as long as the enzyme is not deactivated by the thermal denaturation characteristic for enzymes and other proteins. The three-dimensional stmcture of an enzyme molecule, which is vital for the activity of the molecule, is governed by many forces and interactions such as hydrogen bonding, hydrophobic interactions, and van der Waals forces. At low temperatures the molecule is constrained by these forces as the temperature increases, the thermal motion of the various regions of the enzyme increases until finally the molecule is no longer able to maintain its stmcture or its activity. Most enzymes have temperature optima between 40 and 60°C. However, thermostable enzymes exist with optima near 100°C. 

FIGURE 14.12 The effect of temperature on enzyme activity. The relative activity of an enzymatic reaction as a fnncdon of tempera-tnre. The decrease in the activity above 50 C is dne to thermal denatnradon. 

Effect of pH and temperature on the purified enzyme activity and stability The conditions of the enzyme activity and the stability was done followed Buranakarl, et al. (16). 

Effect of pH and temperature on the purified enzyme activity and stability... 

Cloughley, J. B., The effect of temperature on enzyme activity during the fermentation phase of black tea manufacture. J. Sci. Food Agri., 31 920, 1980. 

Approximation refers to the bringing together of the substrate molecules and reactive functionalities of the enzyme active site into the required proximity and orientation for rapid reaction. Consider the reaction of two molecules, A and B, to form a covalent product A-B. For this reaction to occur in solution, the two molecules would need to encounter each other through diffusion-controlled collisions. The rate of collision is dependent on the temperature of the solution and molar concentrations of reactants. The physiological conditions that support human life, however, do not allow for significant variations in temperature or molarity of substrates. For a collision to lead to bond formation, the two molecules would need to encounter one another in a precise orientation to effect the molecular orbitial distortions necessary for transition state attainment. The chemical reaction would also require... 

A reaction which follows power-law kinetics generally leads to a single, unique steady state, provided that there are no temperature effects upon the system. However, for certain reactions, such as gas-phase reactions involving competition for surface active sites on a catalyst, or for some enzyme reactions, the design equations may indicate several potential steady-state operating conditions. A reaction for which the rate law includes concentrations in both the numerator and denominator may lead to multiple steady states. The following example (Lynch, 1986) illustrates the multiple steady states... 

Assay of Homogenate for Aldrin Epoxidation. The following experimental sequence was designed to determine the optimum in vitro conditions for aldrin epoxidation in larval whole body homogenates 1) the effect of component chemicals generally included in an incubation mixture, 2) a pH profile, 3) a temperature profile, 4) a molarity profile, 5) a reaction time profile, 6) a larval concentration (enzyme concentration) profile, 7) a substrate concentration profile, and 8) a restudy of the effects of component chemicals in the initial incubation mixture (Step 1) upon aldrin epoxidation under optimum conditions as defined by steps 2-7 above. The effect of PBO, FMN, and FAD upon enzyme activity was also tested. 

Due to shifts of the pH-activity profiles, pH values often must be adjusted to obtain the optimal activity of the enzyme under investigation (Maurel and Douzou, 1975). When the above requirements are fulfilled, there is always a residual effect of the cosolvent on enzyme activity. In most cases, such an effect is small compared to the effect of lowering temperature. It must be checked that the effect is instantaneous upon addition of the solvent, independent of time, and fully reversible by infinite dilution or dialysis. If these conditions are not met, one should suspect denaturation. 

While it is tempting to explain regulatory and cosolvent effects on the basis of conformational changes favorable or unfavorable to enzyme activity, it is much more difficult to demonstrate the actual involvement, amount, and structural details of such changes. Experimental evidence consists in most cases of bits and pieces provided by techniques such as absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy, circular dichroism, and magnetic circular dichroism. These tools work in solution (and, when desired, at subzero temperatures) to investigate not simply empty enzymes but enzyme—substrate intermediates. However, even with this information, the conformational basis of enzyme activity remains more postulated than demonstrated at the ball and stick level, and in spite of data about the number and sequence of intermediates, definition of their approximate nature, rate constants, and identification of the types of catalysis involved, full explanation of any particular reaction cannot be given and rests on speculative hypothesis. 

Removal of calcium from HRP C has a significant effect not only on enzyme activity and thermal stability, but also on the environment of the heme group. The calcium-depleted enzyme has optical, EPR, and H NMR spectra that are different from those of the native enzyme (211). Temperature dependence studies indicate that the heme iron exists as a thermal admixture of high- and low-spin states. Kinetic measurements at pH 7 show that ki, the rate constant for compound I formation, is only reduced marginally from 1.6 0.1 x 10 to 1.4 x lO M s , whereas k, the rate constant for compound II reduction, is reduced from 8.1 1.6 x 10 to 3.6 x lO M s (reducing substrate p-aminobenzoic acid), 44% of its initial value (211). There can be little doubt that this is the main reason for the loss of enzyme activity on calcium removal. 

The increase in energy content of an atom, ion, or molecular entity or the process that makes an atom, ion, or molecular entity more active or reactive. In enzymology, activation often refers to processes that result in increased enzyme activity. For example, increasing temperature often can have a positive effect on enzyme activity (See Arrhenius Equation). Other examples of enzyme activation include (1) proteolysis of zymogens (2) alterations in ionic strength (3) alterations due to pH changes (4) activation in cooperative systems (5) lipid or membrane interface activation (6) metal ion effects (7) autocatalysis and (8) covalent modification. 

This dependence on light levels and temperature is believed to be due to the mechanism of production of isoprene in the plant, which involves the enzyme isoprene synthetase and dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP) as a precursor to isoprene (e.g., see Silver and Fall, 1995 and Monson et al., 1995). Either the enzyme, the formation of DMAPP, or both may be light sensitive (Wildermuth and Fall, 1996). The temperature effect has been attributed to effects on the enzyme, increasing its activity initially and then leading to irreversible denaturation (and/or possibly membrane damage) (Fall and Wildermuth, 1998). 

To purify a protein, it is essential to have a way of detecting and quantifying that protein in the presence of many other proteins at each stage of the procedure. Often, purification must proceed in the absence of any information about the size and physical properties of the protein or about the fraction of the total protein mass it represents in the extract. For proteins that are enzymes, the amount in a given solution or tissue extract can be measured, or assayed, in terms of the catalytic effect the enzyme produces—that is, the increase in the rate at which its substrate is converted to reaction products when the enzyme is present. For this purpose one must know (1) the overall equation of the reaction catalyzed, (2) an analytical procedure for determining the disappearance of the substrate or the appearance of a reaction product, (3) whether the enzyme requires cofactors such as metal ions or coenzymes, (4) the dependence of the enzyme activity on substrate concentration, (5) the optimum pH, and (6) a temperature zone in which the enzyme is stable and has high activity. Enzymes are usually assayed at their optimum pH and at some convenient temperature within the range... 

The temperature effect is much more significant than the pressure effect. For the enzyme stability, a temperature increase above certain levels, depending on the enzyme, results in deactivation of the enzyme. In Table 9.2-2, the residual activities of various enzymes after one hour incubation time, in supercritical CO2 at 150 bar, are given. It is obvious that temperatures over ca. 75°C reduce enzyme activity dramatically. However, no correlation for the stability with the temperature for different types of enzymes is yet available [8-10],... 

---