Enzymes as tools

Enzymes have been used as tools in many fields. 

All these uses depend upon one or both of the two paramount properties of enzymes catalytic power and specificity. 

In biochemistry, physiology, pathology and medicine, there are usually two major problems in measuring the concentration of a compound  

The immense catalytic power of enzymes means that a compound, even at a very low concentration, can rapidly be converted to a product whose concentration can then be measured by a sensitive technique. The specificity of enzymes ensures that they react with only one compound, even in the presence of many other similar compounds. This property can be used, for example, in measuring the concentration of glucose in body fluids. 

One other class of biochemical proteins that offers a similar advantage in clinical biochemistry is antibodies, which are highly specific for interaction with other proteins (i.e. with antigens) and bind with a high affinity. The combination of antibodies with radioisotopes produces very sensitive and very specific assays. This system has been used particularly for measuring the concentrations of hormones (see below) peptides and cytokines. 

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Artificial Restriction Enzymes As Tools For Future Molecular Biology and Biotechnology... 

The authors would Hke to acknowledge the support of the University of L Aquila Research Fund, COST action D25/0002/02 Nitrile- and Amide-hydrolysing Enzymes as Tools in Organic Chemistry , and the institutional research concept AV0Z50200510 (Institute of Microbiology). 

Schiilein M (2000) Protein engineering of cellulases. Biochim Biophys Acta 1543 239-252 Schwedt G, Stein K (1994) Immobilized enzymes as tools in food analysis. Z Lebens Forsch 199(3) 171-182... 

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