Application of Electrochemiluminescence Sensor to a Rapid Method of Estimating Activity of Enzyme in Hydrolysis of Peptides

An advanced flow‐through electrochemiluminescence (ECL) detector was applied to determination of resulting amino acids and oligopeptides in hydrolysis of four peptides by leucine aminopeptidase. For 20mer polypeptide PRGPDRPEGIEEEGGERDRD, the ECL intensity due to the polypeptide and produced proline was analyzed to give the dissociation contant K_m (1.2×10^?4 M) and the catalytic reaction constant k_cat (3.7 s^?1), which were good agreement with those obtained by HPLC. The enzymatic parameters were similarly obtained for the other peptides.     

乙酰胆碱酯酶活性的计时电位法测定

报道了一种采用电化学计时电位法测定乙酰胆碱酯酶活性的方法;以碘化硫代乙酰胆碱作底物,将两支铂电极和一支饱和甘汞电极浸入该底物溶液中,向两支铂电极上施加一个合适的恒电流,记录电位V随时间t的变化曲线;该曲线的斜率ΔV／Δt代表酶催化水解的速度,从而反映出酶活性的大小;对影响测定的重要因素如电流、pH值、温度、底物浓度进行了考察,结果表明：当电流为20μA,pH7.4,温度26.0℃,底物浓度2mmol/L时,可获得满意的测量结果;与其他方法相比,该法更加简便、快速。     

A Stretchable Electrochemical Sensor for Inducing and Monitoring Cell Mechanotransduction in Real Time

Existing methods offer little direct and real‐time information about stretch‐triggered biochemical responses during cell mechanotransduction. A novel stretchable electrochemical sensor is reported that takes advantage of a hierarchical percolation network of carbon nanotubes and gold nanotubes (CNT‐AuNT). This hybrid nanostructure provides the sensor with excellent time‐reproducible mechanical and electrochemical performances while granting very good cellular compatibility, making it perfectly apt to induce and monitor simultaneously transient biochemical signals. This is validated by monitoring stretch‐induced transient release of small signaling molecules by both endothelial and epithelial cells cultured on this sensor and submitted to stretching strains of different intensities. This work demonstrates that the hybrid CNT‐AuNT platform offers a versatile and highly sensitive way to characterize and quantify short‐time mechanotransduction responses.     

计时电位法测定乙酰胆碱酯酶活性

报道了一种采用电化学计时电位法测定乙酰胆碱酯酶活性的方法。以碘化乙酰硫代胆碱作底物,将铂对电极和饱和甘汞参比电极浸入该底物溶液中,向两支铂电极上施加一个合适的恒电流,记录电位E随时间t的变化曲线。该曲线的斜率△E／△t代表酶催化水解的速度,从而反映出酶活性的大小。对固定化乙酰胆碱酯酶片获得了满意的测定结果。     

Dynamic Modulation of Enzyme Activity by Near-Infrared Light

Engineering near-infrared (NIR) light-sensitive enzymes remains a huge challenge. A photothermal effect-associated method is developed for tailoring the enzymatic activity of enzymes by exposure to NIR light. An ultrasmall platinum nanoparticle was anchored in an enzyme to generate local heating upon NIR irradiation, which enhanced the enzyme activity without increasing bulk temperature. Following NIR irradiation, the enzyme activity was tailored rapidly and reversibly, and was modulated by varying laser power density and irradiation time. Four enzymes were engineered, including glucoamylase, glucose oxidase, catalase, and proteinase K with NIR-light sensitivity, and demonstrated their utility in practical applications such as photolithography and NIR light-responsive antibacterial or anticancer actions. Our investigation suggests that this approach could be broadly used to engineer enzymes with NIR-light sensitivity for many biological applications.     

Analysis of Enzyme Structure and Activity by Protein Engineering

Structure-activity relationships of enzymes can now be analyzed for the first time by the systematic alteration of protein structure. Recent developments in the chemical synthesis of DNA fragments and recombinant DNA technology enable the facile modification of proteins by highly specific mutagenesis of their genes. Kinetic analysis of the mutant enzymes combined with high-resolution structural data from protein X-ray crystallography allow direct measurements on the relationships between structure and function. In particular, the strength and nature of enzyme-substrate interactions and their detailed roles in catalysis and specificity can now be studied. We have developed such analysis of enzyme structure-function by site-directed mutagenesis of the tyrosyl-tRNA synthetase from Bacillus stearothermophilus, concentrating so far on the subtle role of hydrogen bonding in both substrate specificity and catalysis. We find that the energetics of tyrosine and ATP binding must be analyzed in terms of an exchange reaction with solvent water. Based on this idea and structural data, we have engineered an enzyme of improved enzyme-substrate affinity, and there thus appear to be real prospects of engineering proteins of new specificities, activities, and structural properties. We are also using protein engineering to gather direct information on the nature of enzyme catalysis. For example, we find the catalysis of formation of Tyr-AMP from Tyr and ATP is due largely to electrostatic and hydrogen bonding interactions that are stronger in the transition state than in the ground state—a “strain” mechanism rather than acid-base or covalent catalysis.     

Amperometric Choline Sensor with Enzyme Immobilized by Gamma-Irradiation in a Biocompatible Membrane

Abstract

An amperometric choline biosensor was constructed using choline oxidase immobilized on poly(2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate) membranes obtained by gamma radiation-induced polymerization at low temperature. The measurements were carried out by Clark-type oxygen or hydrogen peroxide electrodes. Calibration curves were linear in the 10-200 umol · 1^?1 range for the oxygen probe and 5-250 umol · 1^?1 for the H₂O₂-based probe. Temperature and pH effects on the activity of immobilized enzyme are described and the response characteristics of the sensor are summarized. The immobilized enzyme membranes stored in glycine buffer or in a dry state were very stable and no significant decrease in the electrode response was observed after three months. The biosensor was employed also to analyse a choline-containing pharmaceutical product and the results were compared to those obtained by enzymatic-spectrophotometric detection.     

Modification of Enzyme Activity by Vibrational Strong Coupling of Water

Vibrational strong coupling (VSC) has recently emerged as a completely new tool for influencing chemical reactivity. It harnesses electromagnetic vacuum fluctuations through the creation of hybrid states of light and matter, called polaritonic states, in an optical cavity resonant to a molecular absorption band. Here, we investigate the effect of vibrational strong coupling of water on the enzymatic activity of pepsin, where a water molecule is directly involved in the enzyme's chemical mechanism. We observe an approximately 4.5‐fold decrease of the apparent second‐order rate constant k_cat/K_m when coupling the water stretching vibration, whereas no effect was detected for the strong coupling of the bending vibration. The possibility of modifying enzymatic activity by coupling water demonstrates the potential of VSC as a new tool to study biochemical reactivity.     

毛细管胶束电动色谱法测定血管紧张素转化酶的活性

 建立了应用毛细管胶束电动色谱 (MECC)灵敏、快速的测定血管紧张素转化酶 (ACE)活性的方法。通过对电压、上样时间、电极缓冲液体系等影响因素的优化 ,探讨了方法的可行性 ,确立了最佳测定条件 (电压 :8 1kV ;上样时间 :1s;电极缓冲液 :2 0mmol/L硼酸盐缓冲液 (pH 9 0 ,含 5 0mmol/LSDS) ;检测波长 :2 2 8nm)。方法的最低ACE活性检测限为 5pmol/min(以 2倍的信噪比计 )。     

N_2-DART-Orbitrap中的特征气相离子反应及在西药快速检测中的应用

采用实时直接分析(DART)离子源串联高分辨质谱Orbitrap技术(DART-Orbitrap MS),对8种市售常见西药进行有效成分分析,建立了一种快速、简便、准确测定西药中有效成分的方法.对DART离子源的离子化温度、扫描模式、操作气体种类、辅助溶剂种类及其酸碱性等实验条件进行了优化,得到最佳实验条件.实验结果表明,正谱条件下,采用N_2气作为操作气体时,待测组分准分子离子峰[M+H]+同样具有较高的灵敏度和谱图辨识度.因此,N2气可以替代昂贵的He气作为DART离子源的操作气体用于8种药物有效成分的现场实时检测.该方法具备成本低、快速和操作简便的特点.通过分析待测组分的特征碎片离子,发现了N2-DART离子源中的特征离子反应,包括氧化反应和重排反应.根据获得的特征碎片离子对N_2-DART-MS中发生的反应机理进行推导,并结合理论计算对其进行验证.N_2-DART-MS技术有望应用于复杂基质混合物的现场快速检测中.     

A Silica Bilayer Supported on Ru(0001): Following the Crystalline-to Vitreous Transformation in Real Time with Spectro-microscopy

The crystalline-to-vitreous phase transformation of a SiO₂ bilayer supported on Ru(0001) was studied by time-dependent LEED, local XPS, and DFT calculations. The silica bilayer system has parallels to 3D silica glass and can be used to understand the mechanism of the disorder transition. DFT simulations show that the formation of a Stone–Wales-type of defect follows a complex mechanism, where the two layers show decoupled behavior in terms of chemical bond rearrangements. The calculated activation energy of the rate-determining step for the formation of a Stone—Wales-type of defect (4.3 eV) agrees with the experimental value. Charge transfer between SiO₂ bilayer and Ru(0001) support lowers the activation energy for breaking the Si−O bond compared to the unsupported film. Pre-exponential factors obtained in UHV and in O₂ atmospheres differ significantly, suggesting that the interfacial ORu underneath the SiO₂ bilayer plays a role on how the disordering propagates within the film.     

Development of Chemical Tools to Monitor and Control Isoaspartyl Peptide Methyltransferase Activity

We have established a coupled assay system targeting protein l ‐isoaspartyl methyltransferase (PIMT), a key enzyme in the metabolism of isoaspartyl peptides and proteins. The system utilizes a fluorogenic peptide probe containing an isoaspartyl residue at the P1′ position of the caspase‐3 recognition sequence. Following PIMT‐catalyzed methyl transfer reaction, the methylated probe is specifically cleaved by caspase‐3 to give fluorescence activation. High‐throughput screening of our chemical library with this assay system identified PIMT inhibitors that may be useful as leads in the design of chemical probes for controlling PIMT activity.     

基于碳量子点光活性模拟酶性能灵敏检测焦磷酸根离子

利用简单的水热法合成了具有良好水溶性、优良光活性模拟酶性质的碳量子点(CDs),该量子点在可见光照(λ≥400 nm)下可以催化氧化辣根过氧化物酶(HRP)的特征底物3,3,5,5-四甲基联苯(TMB),生成与HRP催化氧化相同的产物。铜离子可与CDs发生配位作用,使CDs聚集光诱导模拟酶的活性降低;焦磷酸根(ppi)存在时,铜离子与ppi配位生成Cu~(2+)-ppi复合物,从而使CDs分散模拟酶活性恢复。利用这一现象建立了一种比色检测ppi的方法,在最佳条件下,检测信号与ppi的浓度之间存在良好的线性关系,其线性范围为1.0×10~(-6)~5.0×10~(-3)mol/L,检出限为2.5×10~(-7)mol/L。将该方法应用于健康人血浆中ppi的检测,ppi的回收率为97.4%~104.8%,研究表明该比色传感器可用于人血浆中ppi的检测。     

流动注射分析法测定固定化酶的催化活力

本文介绍了脲酶的固定方法以及用流动注射分析法测定固定化酶的催化活力，测得脲的平均转化率为９５．０％。     

Dynamic Modulation of Enzyme Activity by Near‐Infrared Light

Engineering near‐infrared (NIR) light‐sensitive enzymes remains a huge challenge. A photothermal effect‐associated method is developed for tailoring the enzymatic activity of enzymes by exposure to NIR light. An ultrasmall platinum nanoparticle was anchored in an enzyme to generate local heating upon NIR irradiation, which enhanced the enzyme activity without increasing bulk temperature. Following NIR irradiation, the enzyme activity was tailored rapidly and reversibly, and was modulated by varying laser power density and irradiation time. Four enzymes were engineered, including glucoamylase, glucose oxidase, catalase, and proteinase K with NIR‐light sensitivity, and demonstrated their utility in practical applications such as photolithography and NIR light‐responsive antibacterial or anticancer actions. Our investigation suggests that this approach could be broadly used to engineer enzymes with NIR‐light sensitivity for many biological applications.     

相对时间法计算凝胶渗透色谱测试大分子分子量和分子量分布

在凝胶渗透色谱(GPC)对大分子的分子量和分子量分布的测试中,本研究利用小分子乙二醇在系统中出峰时间恒定的现象,采用乙二醇的出峰时间作为标识物,将GPC的色谱图转化为相对时间,再以相对时间建立校正曲线,作为计算分子量和分子量分布的依据。此方法解决了在测试色谱图的记录、校准曲线的建立和分子量的计算中以实际时间来表示和计算分子量时,由于GPC泵的重复性不稳定、色谱柱柱效的下降、仪器更换过不同的色谱柱等因素造成的使校正曲线出现偏差、分子量计算结果出现误差等问题。     

Using Small Molecules to Enhance P450 OleT Enzyme Activity in Situ

Cytochrome P450 OleT is a fatty acid decarboxylase that catalyzes the production of olefins with biofuel and synthetic applications. However, the relatively sluggish catalytic efficiency of the enzyme limits its applications. Here, we report the application of a novel class of benzene containing small molecules to improve the OleT activity. The UV-Vis spectroscopy study and molecular docking results confirmed the high proximity of the small molecules to the heme group of OleT. Up to 6-fold increase of product yield has been achieved in the small molecule-modulated enzymatic reactions. Our work thus sheds the light to the application of small molecules to increase the OleT catalytic efficiency, which could be potentially used for future olefin productions.     

A Silica Bilayer Supported on Ru(0001): Following the Crystalline‐to Vitreous Transformation in Real Time with Spectro‐microscopy

The crystalline‐to‐vitreous phase transformation of a SiO₂ bilayer supported on Ru(0001) was studied by time‐dependent LEED, local XPS, and DFT calculations. The silica bilayer system has parallels to 3D silica glass and can be used to understand the mechanism of the disorder transition. DFT simulations show that the formation of a Stone–Wales‐type of defect follows a complex mechanism, where the two layers show decoupled behavior in terms of chemical bond rearrangements. The calculated activation energy of the rate‐determining step for the formation of a Stone—Wales‐type of defect (4.3 eV) agrees with the experimental value. Charge transfer between SiO₂ bilayer and Ru(0001) support lowers the activation energy for breaking the Si?O bond compared to the unsupported film. Pre‐exponential factors obtained in UHV and in O₂ atmospheres differ significantly, suggesting that the interfacial ORu underneath the SiO₂ bilayer plays a role on how the disordering propagates within the film.