Photometric and fluorometric continuous kinetic assay of acid phosphatases with new substrates possessing longwave absorption and emission maxima.

A direct and continuous kinetic method for the photometric and fluorometric determination of various acid phosphatases is described. It is based on new coumarin-derived phosphates, which after enzymatic hydrolysis undergo dissociation to form intensely colored and strongly fluorescent phenolate anions. The latter have absorption maxima ranging from 385 to 505 nm, and fluorescence maxima between 470 and 595 nm. The new substrates were compared with respect to their rate of enzymatic hydrolysis, optimum pH, and detection limits of acid phosphatase from potato and wheat germ. Detection limits of 0.001 unit/ml were found by photometry, and as low as 0.00006 unit/ml by fluorometry. The principal advantages of the new substrates over existing ones are longwave absorptions and emissions, large Stokes shifts, and the low pKa values of the corresponding phenols, thus allowing a direct and continuous assay of acid phosphatase even in weakly acidic solutions.