Application of capillary enzyme micro-reactor in enzyme activity and inhibitors studies of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase.

In this study, we present an on-line measurement of enzyme activity and inhibition of Glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PDH) enzyme using capillary electrophoresis based immobilized enzyme micro-reactor (CE-based IMER). The IMER was prepared using a two-step protocol based on electrostatic assembly. The micro-reactor exhibited good stability and reproducibility for on-line assay of G6PDH enzyme. Both the activity as well as the inhibition of the G6PDH enzyme by six inhibitors, including three metals (Cu(2+), Pb(2+), Cd(2+)), vancomycin, urea and KMnO4, were investigated using on-line assay of the CE-based IMERs. The enzyme activity and inhibition kinetic constants were measured using the IMERs which were found to be consistent with those using traditional off-line enzyme assays. The kinetic mechanism of each inhibitor was also determined. The present study demonstrates the feasibility of using CE-based IMERs for rapid and efficient on-line assay of G6PDH, an important enzyme in the pentosephosphate pathway of human metabolism.