ß-GALACTOSIDASE ACTIVITY IN A MOLECULAR CROWDED ENVIRONMENT

COLLIN, ALEJANDRO ALBERTO; SANCHEZ, JULIETA MARIA; PERILLO, MARIA ANGELICA

Mar del Plata

Congreso; Congreso Conjunto de Sociedades Biomédicas; 2004

Sociedades Biomédicas Argentinas (SAFE, SAN, SABiologia, SABiofisica, SAFE)

In the present work we investigated the modulation of ßgalactosidase (ß-Gal) activity, stability and structure in a molecular crowded environment. Enzyme activity against ß-D-orthonitrophenyl- galactopiranoside (ONPG) in the presence or absence of poly ethylene glycol (PEG) as the crowded agent was determined at [PEG]= 0-35% P/V, by spectrophotometry.ONPG suffered a non-enzymatic hydrolysis in the presence of PEG.Our results can be interpreted in terms of the effects of the water-structure of the solution (more ordered in the presence of PEG) on the enzyme conformation as well as on the very reaction mechanism (a water molecule is use in the second stage of the reaction mechanism).