Lipase determining activity

Numerous workers have found that measurements of serum lipase activity are useful in the diagnosis of pancreatitis (83, 84, 85). Despite this, serum lipase determinations are not usually performed in clinical laboratories, probably due to inherent problems associated with the conventional methods, based on an emulsified lipid substrate. The methods are also not very suitable for manual batch analysis nor for automation due to laborious post incubation procedures. 

Trioleoylglycerol (triolein) and olive oil are commonly used substrates, and stable emulsions may be readily obtained for use as substrate preparations. Enzyme activity can be monitored by a pH stat or analysis of released fatty acids (Brockerhoff and Jensen, 1974). The sensitivity of low-level activities may be increased with radioactive substrates. Tributyrin is commonly used because of its ease of dispersion in water, but it cannot be assumed that tributyrin hydrolysis is necessarily a measurement of true lipase activity. Triacetin is water-soluble, and although often used for lipase determinations this practice is not recommended. (A major commercial enzyme supplier markets wheat germ lipase but states on the containers that the preparation will not hydrolyze olive oil—it is, however, active on triacetin.)... 

Lipase immobilized on SMOF by glutaraldehyde method Lipase [166] activity tested by determination of p-nitrophenyl butyrate hydrolysis products SMOF evaluated for synthesis of butyl laurate from lauric acid and n-butanol in n-hexane and n-heptane percentage yield up to 99% with 38 s residence time at a flow rate of 1 pl/min... 

Abstract The commercial extract from the oro-pharyngeal tissues of calf has been used as the source of pregastric lipase and has been processed to yield a partially purified sample of the pregastric lipase. The activity of this lipase against the short-chain lipid tributyrin has been determined over a range of pH and temperature values. Optimum pH conditions were within the range 5.7-6.4 and the optimum temperature was within 37-48 °C. The lipase was also used to catalyze the hydrolysis of monoacid triglycerides (C4 0-C12 0)... 

The lipase (PAL) used in these studies is a hydrolase having the usual catalytic triad composed of aspartate, histidine, and serine [42] (Figure 2.6). Stereoselectivity is determined in the first step, which involves the formation of the oxyanion. Unfortunately, X-ray structural characterization of the (S)- and (J )-selective mutants are not available. However, consideration of the crystal structure of the WT lipase [42] is in itself illuminating. Surprisingly, it turned out that many of the mutants have amino acid exchanges remote from the active site [8,22,40]. 

Lippi et. al (87) and Dirstine (88) circumvented titration by converting the liberated fatty acids into copper salts, which after extraction in chloroform are reacted with diethyldithio-carbamate to form a colored complex which is measured photometrically. While the end point appears to be more sensitive than the pH end point determination, the advantages are outweighed by the additional steps of solvent extraction, centrifugation and incomplete extraction when low concentrations of copper salts are present. Other substrates used for the measurement of lipase activity have been tributyrin ( ), phenyl laurate (90), p-nit ro-pheny1-stearate and 3-naphthyl laurate (91). It has been shown that these substrates are hydrolyzed by esterases and thus lack specificity for lipase. Studies on patients with pancreatitis indicate olive oil emulsion is definitely superior to water soluble esters as substrates for measuring serum lipase activity. 

The i-poly(3HB) depolymerase of R. rubrum is the only i-poly(3HB) depolymerase that has been purified [174]. The enzyme consists of one polypeptide of 30-32 kDa and has a pH and temperature optimum of pH 9 and 55 °C, respectively. A specific activity of 4 mmol released 3-hydroxybutyrate/min x mg protein was determined (at 45 °C). The purified enzyme was inactive with denatured poly(3HB) and had no lipase-, protease-, or esterase activity with p-nitro-phenyl fatty acid esters (2-8 carbon atoms). Native poly(3HO) granules were not hydrolyzed by i-poly(3HB) depolymerase, indicating a high substrate specificity similar to extracellular poly(3HB) depolymerases. Recently, the DNA sequence of the i-poly(3HB) depolymerase of R. eutropha was published (AB07612). Surprisingly, the DNA-deduced amino acid sequence (47.3 kDa) did not contain a lipase box fingerprint. A more detailed investigation of the structure and function of bacterial i-poly(HA) depolymerases will be necessary in future. 

Oral pancreatic enzyme supplements are available as powders, uncoated or coated tablets, capsules, enteric-coated spheres and microspheres, or enteric-coated microtablets encased in a cellulose or gelatin capsule (Table 28-2). Microencapsulated enteric-coated products are not superior to recommended doses of conventional non-enteric-coated enzyme preparations. The quantity of active lipase delivered to the duodenum appears to be a more important determinant in pancreatic enzyme replacement therapy than the dosage form. GI side effects appear to be dose related but occur less frequently with enteric-coated products. 

H. Uzawa, Y. Nisbida, H. Ohrui, H. Meguro, A New Approach to Determine the Stereospecificity in Lipase Catalyzed Hydrolysis Using Circular Dichroism (CD) Lipases Produce Optically Active Diglycerides from Achiral Triglycerides , Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 1990, 168, 506-511. 

The cell-bound amylopullulanase was solubilized with detergent and lipase. It was then purified to homogeneity by treatment with streptomycin sulfate and ammonium sulfate, and by DEAE-Sephacel, octyl-Sepharose and puUulan-Sepharose column chromatography (12). The final enzyme solution was purified 3511-fold over the crude enzyme extract with an overall recovery of 42% and had a specific activity of 481 units/mg protein. The average molecular weight of the enzyme was 136,500 determined by gel filtration on Sephacryl S-200 and SDS-PAGE, and it had an isoelectric point at pH 5.9. It was rich in acidic and hydrophobic amino acids. The purified enzyme was quite thermostable in the absence of substrate even up to 90°C with essentially no loss of activity in 30 min. However, the enzyme lost about 40% of its original activity at 95 C tested for 30 min. The optimum tenq)erature for the action of the purified enzyme on pullulan was 90°C. However, the enzyme activity rapidly decreased on incubation at 95°C to only 38% of the maximal 30 min. The enzyme was stable at pH 3.0-5.0 and was optimally active at pH 5.5. It produced only maltotriose and no panose or isopanose from pullulan. 

The first enzymatic polymerizations of substituted lactones were performed by Kobayashi and coworkers using Pseudomonas fluorescens lipase or CALB as the biocatalyst [90-92]. A clear enantiopreference was observed for different lactone monomers, resulting in the formation of optically active polymers. More recently, a systematic study was performed by Al-Azemi et al. [93] and Peelers et al. [83] on the ROP of 4-alkyl-substituted CLs using Novozym 435. Peelers et al. studied the selectivity and the rates as a function of the substituent size with the aim of elucidating the mechanism and the rate-determining step in these polymerizations. Enantio-enriched polymers were obtained, but the selectivity decreased drastically with the increase in substituent size [83]. Remarkably for 4-propyl-e-caprolactone, the selectivity was for the (R)-enantiomer in a polymerization, whereas it was S)-selective in the hydrolysis reaction. Comparison of the selectivity in the hydrolysis reaction (Fig. 10b) with that of the polymerization reaction (Scheme 8a) revealed that the more bulky the alkyl substituent, the more important the deacylation step becomes as the rate-determining step. 

The stability of the ester surfactants against enzymatic hydrolysis by two different microbial Upases, Mucor miehei lipase (MML) and Candida antarc-tica lipase B (CALB) added separately to the surfactant solutions, was also investigated, see Fig. 5 [19]. It is obvious that hydrolysis of the unsubstituted surfactant is much faster with both CALB and MML than that of the substituted surfactants, i.e., increased steric hindrance near the ester bond leads to decreased hydrolysis rate. Since the specificity of the enzyme against its substrate is determined by the structure of the active site, it can be concluded, as expected, that the straight chain surfactant most easily fits into the active site of both enzymes. 

The peptide (melittin) was foimd associated to RMs in a single state as opposed to involvement of at least two forms of melittin with Upid in phospholipid vesicles. Folding and dynamics of this peptide in RMs were also investigated In RMs, activity of a-chymotrypsin was imaffected by pressurization while lipase lost its activity at low pressures and regained on depressurization. The use of pressure as a switch for lipase catalysis is discussed Partition coefficients for 11 amino acids, 17 dipeptides and 5 longer peptides in RMs were determined. 

The determination of the enzyme activity as a function of the composition of the reaction medium is very important in order to find the optimal reaction conditions of an enzyme catalysed synthesis. In case of lipases, the hydrolysis of p-nitrophenyl esters in w/o-microemulsions is often used as a model reaction [19, 20]. The auto-hydrolysis of these esters in w/o-microemulsions is negligible. Because of the microstructure of the reaction media itself and the changing solvent properties of the water within the reverse micelles, the absorbance maximum of the p-nitrophenol varies in the microemulsion from that in bulk water, a fact that has to be considered [82]. Because of this, the water- and surfactant concentrations of the applied micro emulsions have to be well adjusted. 

Relatively few detailed studies of enzyme kinetics in organic media have been carried out. Preferably, full kinetics should be studied, allowing the determination of Km and kcat values, but it is much more common to see just reports on the catalytic activity at fixed substrate concentrations as a function of water activity. That such studies can be misleading was shown in an investigation of lipase-catalyzed esterification [26]. When the reaction rate in the esterification reaction was plotted versus the water activity at three different substrate concentrations, maxima were obtained at three different water activities (Figure 1.4). Such maxima should not be used to claim that the optimal water activity of the enzyme was found. Detailed kinetic studies showed that both the kcat and the Km values (for the alcohol substrate) varied with the water activity. The Km value of the alcohol increased with increasing water... 

The LPL catalytic assay measures the hydrolysis of a [14C[- or [3H]-triolein emulsion producing the 14C- or 3H -labeled free oleic acid [6]. The 14C- or 3H-labeled oleic acid is isolated by a selective extraction procedure and its radioactivity is determined by liquid scintillation counting [40]. Lipase activity is calculated as nanomoles of oleic acid released per minute per milliliter of postheparin plasma [41]. 

If the bonded water is extracted by dry CO2 the enzyme is denaturated and loses its activity. Therefore a certain amount of water is necessary in the supercritical fluid because acting with water-saturated CO2 again causes an inhibition of the enzyme and consequent loss of activity. The optimal water concentration has to be determined for each enzyme separately. Table 9.2-1 shows the residual activity of lipase from Candida cylindracea, esterase from Mucor mihei, and esterase from Porcine liver after a incubation time of 22 hours in supercritical CO2 at 40°C. It is obvious that higher water concentrations cause a strong reduction in the residual activity compared to the activity of the untreated enzyme, which was set as 100 %. Further, the system-pressure has an influence because at higher pressures the activity-loss is lower with a larger amount of water in the system [7,8],... 

Downey (1980) reasoned that although milk lipoprotein lipase is present in sufficient amounts to cause extensive hydrolysis and potential marked flavor impairment, this does not happen in practice for the following reasons (1) the fat globule membrane separates the milk fat from the enzyme, whose activity is further diminished by (2) its occlusion by casein micelles (Downey and Murphy 1975) and by (3) the possible presence in milk of inhibitors of lipolysis (Deeth and Fitz-Gerald 1975). The presence in milk of activators and their relative concentration may also determine whether milk will be spontaneously rancid or not (Jellema 1975 Driessen and Stadhouders 1974A Murphy et al. 1979 Anderson 1979). 

Besides changing the natural flavor of milk, lipolysis may produce a variety of other effects. One of the most noticeable of these is the lowering of surface tension as lipolysis proceeds (Schwartz 1974). Fatty acids, especially their salts, and mono- and diglycerides, being good surface-active agents, depress the surface tension of milk (see the discussion Methods for Determining Lipase Activity ). Milk fat ob-... 

A number of methods are available for following lipase activity. Although numerous modifications and variations have been introduced, the basic methods are (1) titration of the liberated fatty acids, (2) changes in surface tension, (3) colorimetric determination of the fatty acids, (4) use of gas-liquid chromatography, and (5) use of radioactive substrates. Kuzdzal-Savoie (1980) has reviewed the subject. 

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