Enzyme Mechanism Research Based on SPR Technology

The overview of enzyme mechanism

Enzymes are a class of macromolecules that act as biocatalysts, and most enzymes are proteins. They dominate many catalytic processes such as metabolism, nutrition and energy conversion of organisms. Most of the reactions closely related to life processes are enzyme-catalyzed reactions. These properties of enzymes enable the intricate material metabolism process in the cell to proceed in an orderly manner, so that the material metabolism and normal physiological functions can adapt to each other. If a certain enzyme is defective due to genetic defects, or the activity of the enzyme is weakened due to other reasons, the abnormal reaction catalyzed by the enzyme can lead to disorder of material metabolism and even disease. Since enzyme activity is affected by many factors, including some small molecules (inhibitors and activators), these small molecules can interfere with enzyme regulation. Such small molecules can be used as potential drug candidates for diseases caused by enzyme imbalance. Enzyme activity is very important to the health of the body, so the relationship between enzymes and medicine is very close.

Based on the types of reactions catalyzed by various enzymes, we can classify enzymes into six major groups, including oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, cleavage enzymes, isomerases and ligases.

• Oxidoreductases are classes of enzymes that catalyze redox reactions of substrates, such as lactate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, cytochrome oxidase, peroxidase, etc.

Reaction formula: AH₂+B=A+BH₂

• Transferases are enzymes that can transfer or exchange certain groups with the catalytic substrate, such as transmethylesterase, transcarbamylase, hexokinase, phosphorylase, etc.

Reaction formula: AR+B=A+BR

• Hydrolases are enzymes that can react with catalytic substrates for hydrolysis, such as amylase, protease, lipase, phosphatase, etc.

Reaction formula: AB+H₂O=AOH+BH

• Lyases are enzymes that can catalyze the decomposition of one substrate into two compounds or the synthesis of two compounds into one compound, such as citrate synthase, aldolase, etc.

Reaction formula: AB=A+B

• Isomerases are enzymes that catalyze the interconversion of various isomers, such as propyl phosphate isomerase, racemase, etc.

Reaction formula: A=B

• Ligases are enzymes that catalyze the synthesis of two molecules of substrate into one molecule and must also be coupled with the breakage of the phosphate bond of ATP, such as glutamine synthetase and amino acid-tRNA ligase.

Reaction formula: A+B+ATP=AB+ADP+Pi

Different types of enzymes are responsible for different mechanisms of action that together regulate the normal life activities of living organisms. Therefore, the study of enzyme mechanisms is very necessary.

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) in enzyme mechanism research

Since the investigation of various enzyme-substrate mechanisms can help the research and development of related drugs, research on the mechanism of enzyme action has increasingly become a hot field of biomedical research. If you are interested in this field, you can consider our SPR technology platform. For example, SPR is now available for applications related to kinase and phosphatase mechanism analysis. The analysis of the effects of enzymes and substrates at the molecular level can be achieved with high efficiency through the SPR high-throughput technology platform. As we can see in the figure below, our SPR technology platform can promote the development of drugs for diseases caused by enzyme imbalances through the study of enzyme mechanisms.

Fig.1 BIAchip™ in the process of enzyme mechanism research

Firstly, our SPR technology platform can provide you with customized chip services according to your project requirements, reducing your trouble of chip selection. The exclusive customized plan will be given within 1-2 days after discussing with you.

Secondly, the high throughput of SPR is conducive to the reproducibility of your enzyme-substrate kinetic analysis process which is especially suitable for large-scale screening processes. Based on this, SPR can help you quickly find signal pathway sites and enzyme targets in the process of enzymatic mechanism research.

Last but not least, in addition to the two main advantages of high throughput and customizability, our SPR technology platform can also ensure high accuracy, high sensitivity, and high selectivity of the enzyme-substrate analysis process.

Choosing SPR technology platform of Creative Proteomics, you will greatly save time and money costs owing to high-throughput intermolecular interaction detection. All services are available on a 24/7/365 basis. If you have any questions or suggestions about our SPR platform, please feel free to contact us right now.

For research use only. Not intended for any clinical use.