Gel entrapped multistep systems

It is the purpose of this paper to review the existing state of knowledge on gel entrapped multistep enzyme systems with particular reference to their kinetic behavior, and to add some recent results from this laboratory. 

In all of the multistep immobilized enzyme work done to date, theoretical or experimental, for modelling purposes or for applications, there exists one common factor the chemical reactions are affected by the diffusive processes so that the macroscopically observed kinetics are strongly perturbed by the incorporation of the enzymes into a gel. This perturbation is caused by the development of localized concentrations and concentration gradients within the gel which are quite different from that found in free solution. Only one instance appears to have been reported where exact modelling of real experimental data has been attempted. All other work has been either purely theoretical or qualitative interpretations of limited experimental data. There is still much to be learned of the role played by the gel matrix in affecting the overall kinetic performance of gel entrapped multienzyme systems before they can be well designed for applications or used with any confidence in a quantitative way as models for living systems. 

The quantitative data and observations discussed above appear to be consistent with the qualitative concepts put forward by Mosbach and others to explain the behavior of multistep enzyme systems. Mathematical modelling of gel entrapped, multistep, immobilized enzyme systems, using the collocation technique, is quite straightforward and provides the opportunity not only to compare experiment with theory but also to explore the effect of parameters of the system which are experimentally inaccessible. 

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