Michaelis-Menten analysis of bovine plasma amine oxidase by capillary electrophoresis using electrophoretically mediated microanalysis in a partially filled capillary

A method for determining bovine plasma amine oxidase (PAO; EC 1.4.3.6) activity with benzylamine (Bz) as substrate is described. Electrophoretically mediated microanalysis (EMMA) combined with micellar electrokinetic capillary chromatography (MEKC) was used to perform an on-capillary enzymatic reaction and to separate the generated benzaldehyde from the other reaction products. The capillary was only partially filled with the separation solution, since the enzyme was unstable in the presence of the applied surfactant. The initial reaction velocity of the enzyme-catalyzed reaction was estimated from the peak area of the enzyme product, benzaldehyde. An amplification step was introduced by means of an on-capillary incubation of 15 min, in order to accumulate enough reaction product to detect spectrophotometrically at 254 nm. This set-up resulted in a fully automated assay, which can be carried out in less then 35 min. Using the Lineweaver-Burk equation, an average Michaelis constant (K(M)) for PAO was calculated to be 0.74 mM +/- 0.05 mM, which is consistent with previously reported values.