Enzyme-substrate interaction in lipid monolayers. II. Binding and activity of lipase in relation to enzyme and substrate concentration and to other factors.

With the limited stirring procedure used in the present work, substrate and enzyme together form a segregated and well-defined system on the surface. The lipase molecules responsible for the lipolysis are only those that are adsorbed on the glyceride monolayer. After a study of the stirring procedure, two series of systematic experiments were done: a) the bulk concentration of the enzyme was varied with different constant surface concentrations of the substrate, and b) the surface concentration of the substrate was varied with different constant bulk concentrations of the enzyme. The influence of the surface concentration of substrate on a) the rate of lipolysis, V,; b) the enzyme activity, a,; and c) the enzyme adsorption, Ze, were each determined by a different procedure. The values obtained verify the enzymic activity equation (a = V/Ze). The roles of other factors (Ca2+ ions, and pH) which govern the adsorption of the enzyme and its specific activity were also studied in preliminary experiments.