Use of cation-selective electrodes in enzyme assays.

A cation-sensing electrode can be used to monitor enzymatic reactions if their substrates and products differ in the ability to bind the cation. In the first method, the electrode potential vs time curve is recorded. The second, metal-stat method consists of measuring the rate at which substrate must be added to the reaction medium in order to keep the electrode potential at a constant level. These approaches have been used to assay inorganic pyrophosphatase, carboxypeptidase A, and hexokinase with the Mg2+ and Cu2+ ions as the indicators.