Conductimetric assay of pyroglutamyl peptidase activity

Conductometric Microbiosensors for Environmental Monitoring

This review presents the principles of conductometric measurements in ionic media and the equivalent electrical circuits of different designs for conductometric measurements. These types of measurements were first applied for monitoring biocatalytic reactions. The use of conductometric microtransducers is then presented and detailed in the case of pollutant detection for environmental monitoring. Conductometric biosensors have advantages over other types of transducers: they can be produced through inexpensive thinfilm standard technology, no reference electrode is needed and differential mode measurements allow cancellation of a lot of interferences. The specifications obtained for the detection of different pesticides, herbicides and heavy metal ions, based on enzyme inhibition, are presented as well as those obtained for the detection of formaldehyde, 4- chlorophenol, nitrate and proteins as markers of dissolved organic carbon based on enzymatic microbiosensors.

A direct pyrophosphatase-coupled assay provides new insights into the activation of the secreted adenylate cyclase from Bordetella pertussis by calmodulin

Continuous recording of the activity of recombinant adenylate cyclase (CyaA) of Bordetella pertussis (EC ) by conductimetric determination of enzyme-coupled pyrophosphate cleavage has enabled us to define a number of novel features of the activation of this enzyme by calmodulin and establish conditions under which valid activation data can be obtained. Activation either in the presence or absence of calcium is characterized by a concentration-dependent lag phase. The rate of formation and breakdown of the activated complex can be determined from an analysis of the lag phase kinetics and is in good agreement with thermodynamic data obtained by measuring the dependence of activation on calmodulin concentration, which show that calcium increases k(on) by about 30-fold. The rate of breakdown of the activated complex, formed either in the presence or absence of calcium, has been determined by dilution experiments and has been shown to be independent of the presence of calcium. The coupled assay is established as a rapid, convenient and safe method which should be readily applicable to the continuous assays of most other enzymes that catalyze reactions in which inorganic pyrophosphate is liberated.