Commercial Use Of Enzymes Flashcards
(23 cards)
How can an inhibitor be used as a therapeutic drug?
Inhibitors can reduce or stop the progression of diseases by targeting enzymes involved in causing diseases.
What characteristics must enzyme inhibitors have to work as therapeutic drugs?
Inhibitors must be specific to the enzyme in the disease progression and work well at low dosage to prevent toxic build-up.
Give examples of inhibitors being used as therapeutic drugs.
- Penicillin inhibits the enzyme responsible for the formation of cross-links in bacterial walls
- ACE inhibitors prevent vasocontraction of coronary arteries, lowering blood pressure
- Antiviral drugs inhibit DNA/RNA polymerase, essential in DNA replication.
How can an enzyme be used as a biomarker of disease?
The presence of an enzyme or the protein it produces can be used as a diagnostic tool to confirm the presence of a particular disease.
Give an example of an enzyme being used as a biomarker of disease.
Elastase is a biomarker for lung disease, produced by the body as part of the immune response to bacterial infection.
What are immobilised enzymes?
Immobilised enzymes are trapped within, or attached to, appropriate inorganic or organic materials.
Describe the method of immobilisation: Adsorption.
Enzymes are attached by weak forces to an inert substance such as glass or a matrix.
Describe the method of immobilisation: Entrapment.
Enzymes are trapped within polymers such as alginate beads or microspheres.
Describe the method of immobilisation: Encapsulation (enmeshment).
Enzymes are trapped inside a selectively permeable membrane such as nylon.
True or False: Overproduction of elastase is common in smokers leading to elastase-induced emphysema.
True
What does elastase do in the context of lung disease?
Elastase breaks down elastin, reducing the elasticity of lung tissue and the stretch and recoil action of the alveoli.
What is the method of immobilisation known as cross-linkage?
Enzymes are bonded covalently to a matrix, such as cellulose.
Cross-linkage helps in stabilizing the enzyme structure.
State 5 advantages of enzyme immobilisation.
- Increased thermostability
- More resistant to change in pH
- Retained and reused
- Allows continuous flow column reactors (faster and produce less wastage)
- End product is enzyme free (simplifying the downstreaming process and reducing purification costs)
These advantages enhance the efficiency of enzyme use in industrial applications.
Describe and explain 4 disadvantages of enzyme immobilisation.
- Enzymes may wash off the material (adsorption)
- Enzyme active sites are blocked (adsorption, cross-linkage)
- Substrate must move through a material to get to the enzyme (encapsulation, entrapment)
- Reduced speed of diffusion between substrate and enzyme hence a reduced rate of reaction
These disadvantages impact the overall efficiency and effectiveness of immobilised enzymes.
What is a biosensor?
A device which uses a living organism or biological molecules, especially enzymes or antibodies, to detect the presence of chemicals.
Biosensors are essential in various applications, including medical diagnostics.
How can immobilised enzymes be used in diagnostic reagent strips as a biosensor?
The molecule being monitored reacts with the immobilised enzymes and this reaction produces a colour change or is converted to an electrical signal for digital display.
This mechanism allows for visual or electronic detection of specific substances.
Give examples of immobilised enzymes being used as diagnostic strips as biosensors.
- Clinistix: when glucose is present the enzyme is activated to produce colour change.
- Pregnancy tests: when pregnancy hormone attaches to antibody in test strip, this activates the enzyme to produce colour change.
These examples demonstrate practical applications of biosensors in healthcare.
Why are enzymes very effective as biosensors?
- They are very specific and can be used to identify individual molecules
- Quantitative - can measure amount presence
- It can detect the presence of an enzyme.
The specificity and sensitivity of enzymes make them suitable for precise measurements.
How can an enzyme inhibitor be used as a diagnostic reagent strip?
If the enzyme is present it will bind by its active site to the inhibitor which is attached to the diagnostic strip, resulting in a positive read out.
This method leverages the enzyme’s activity to indicate the presence of specific substances.
Why use an inhibitor rather than the normal substrate?
Active-site directed inhibitors are more specific than the normal substrate.
This specificity enhances the accuracy of the diagnostic test.
What are enzyme inhibitors used for in diagnostic reagent strips?
Early identification of cardiovascular disorders, pre-eclampsia and other medical conditions.
What do diagnostic reagent strips detect?
Specific enzymes present in patient samples.
Fill in the blank: Enzyme inhibitors are used in diagnostic reagent strips for the early identification of _______.
[cardiovascular disorders, pre-eclampsia, and other medical conditions]
