Substrate (chemistry)

About: Substrate (chemistry) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 35902 publications have been published within this topic receiving 740722 citations. The topic is also known as: enzyme substrate.

Alternative view of enzyme reactions.

Abstract: Since adsorption of the substrate in the active site of an enzyme can occur only if all solvent is squeezed out from between them, any reaction between them takes place in the absence of any intervening solvent--i.e., as it would in the gas phase. Recent work has shown that ionic reactions in the gas phase often differ greatly from analogous processes in solution. Therefore, current interpretations of enzyme reactions in terms of solution chemistry are misguided. The large rates and specificity of enzyme reactions may be due simply to elimination of the solvent. The cleavage of peptides by chymotrypsin and carboxypeptidase A can be interpreted satisfactorily in this way.

Determining Protease Substrate Selectivity and Inhibition by Label-Free Supramolecular Tandem Enzyme Assays

Abstract: An analytical method has been developed for the continuous monitoring of protease activity on unlabeled peptides in real time by fluorescence spectroscopy. The assay is enabled by a reporter pair comprising the macrocycle cucurbit[7]uril (CB7) and the fluorescent dye acridine orange (AO). CB7 functions by selectively recognizing N-terminal phenylalanine residues as they are produced during the enzymatic cleavage of enkephalin-type peptides by the metalloendopeptidase thermolysin. The substrate peptides (e.g., Thr-Gly-Ala-Phe-Met-NH2) bind to CB7 with moderately high affinity (K ≈ 104 M–1), while their cleavage products (e.g., Phe-Met-NH2) bind very tightly (K > 106 M–1). AO signals the reaction upon its selective displacement from the macrocycle by the high affinity product of proteolysis. The resulting supramolecular tandem enzyme assay effectively measures the kinetics of thermolysin, including the accurate determination of sequence specificity (Ser and Gly instead of Ala), stereospecificity (d-Ala inst...

Supramolecular Tandem Enzyme Assays for Multiparameter Sensor Arrays and Enantiomeric Excess Determination of Amino Acids

Abstract: The coupling of an enzymatic transformation with dynamic host-guest exchange allows the unselective binding of macrocycles to be used for highly selective analyte sensing. The resulting supramolecular tandem enzyme assays require the enzymatic substrate and its corresponding product to differ significantly in their affinity for macrocycles, for example, cation receptors, and to show a differential propensity to displace a fluorescent dye from its host-guest complex. The enzymatic transformation results in a concomitant dye displacement that can be accurately followed by optical spectroscopy, specifically fluorescence. By exploiting this label-free continuous enzyme assay principle with the fluorescent dye Dapoxyl and the macrocyclic host cucurbit[7]uril, a multiparameter sensor array has been designed, which is capable of detecting the presence of amino acids (e.g. histidine, arginine, lysine, and tyrosine) and their decarboxylases. Only in the presence of both, the particular amino acid and the corresponding decarboxylase, is the amine or diamine product formed. These products are more highly positively charged than the substrate, have a higher affinity for the macrocycle and, therefore, displace the dye from the complex. The extension of the high selectivity and muM sensitivity of the tandem assay principle has also allowed for the accurate measurement of D-lysine enantiomeric excesses of up to 99.98 %, as only the L-enantiomer is accepted by the enzyme as a substrate and is converted to the product that is responsible for the observed fluorescence signal.