title: Effect of crowding by Dextrans in enzymatic reactions.
abstract: The interior of the living cell is highly concentrated and structured with molecules that have different shapes and sizes. Almost all experimental biochemical data have been obtained working in dilute solutions, situations which do not reflect the in vivo conditions. The consequences of such crowding upon enzymatic reactions remain unclear. In this paper, we have studied and compared the initial velocity of the hydrolysis of N-succinyl-L-phenyl-Ala-p-nitroanilide catalyzed by alpha-chymotrypsin, the oxidation of ABTS by H2O2 catalyzed by HRP and the oxidation of NADH in presence of pyruvate catalyzed by LDH. These reactions were chosen as model enzymatic processes occurring in different in vitro crowded media. The systems crowding has been built by introducing Dextran of several concentrations and sizes. Our results indicate that the volume occupied by the crowding agent, but not its size, plays an important role on the initial velocity of reactions involving tiny enzymes. However, the enzyme size is another important factor influencing the velocity of the reactions of large enzymes occurring in Dextran crowded media. In this situation, the reaction initial velocity depends on both occupied volume and dimension of the crowding agent that is present in the reaction media.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Research Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB) of the University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain. Electronic address: i.pastordelcampo@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Isabel
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Pastor
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology-Chemistry, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Laura
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Pitulice
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Research Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB) of the University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Cristina
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Balcells
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Research Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB) of the University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Eudald
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Vilaseca
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Research Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB) of the University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Sergio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Madurga
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology-Chemistry, West University of Timisoara, Timisoara, Romania.
authors.forename: Adriana
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Isvoran
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Institute of Biomedicine (IBUB) of the University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; IDIBAPS, Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Marta
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cascante
authors.affiliation: Department of Physical Chemistry, University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain; Research Institute of Theoretical and Computational Chemistry (IQTCUB) of the University of Barcelona (UB), Barcelona, Spain.
authors.forename: Francesc
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Mas
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D031215:Armoracia / Q000201:enzymology; D002417:Cattle; D002918:Chymotrypsin / Q000378:metabolism*; D003911:Dextrans / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase / Q000378:metabolism*; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide / Q000378:metabolism; D006868:Hydrolysis; D007700:Kinetics; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase / Q000378:metabolism*; D008958:Models, Molecular; D011817:Rabbits; D012996:Solutions
chemical_list: D003911:Dextrans; D012996:Solutions; D006861:Hydrogen Peroxide; D007770:L-Lactate Dehydrogenase; D006735:Horseradish Peroxidase; D002918:Chymotrypsin; C117608:alpha-chymotrypsin
keywords: Alpha-chymotrypsin; Dextran; Enzyme kinetics; HRP; LDH; Macromolecular crowding