Teaching Enzyme Kinetics Using a Commercial Diagnostic Assay for Glucose in Plasma

 

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 1993, Volume 14

Abstract

Introductory biology students often have difficulty with the concepts involved in enzyme kinetics. One would hope that the laboratory would be a source of clarification for these problems but, depending on the enzyme system being utilized, that may not be the case. While having students extract the enzyme that will be used in the assay has many merits, the data obtained from this method are often skewed or fluctuate from one run to the next which can be both confusing and frustrating to the introductory level student. I have found that performing a colorimetric assay using a commercial preparation of an enzyme mixture used for the diagnostic determination of glucose in blood plasma eliminates the disparity between runs and is virtually foolproof. This assay also has the added advantages of requiring very little preparation time, it can easily illustrate a number of principles relating to enzymes, and the experiment length can be tailored to meet one's needs.

Keywords:  enzymes, enzyme activity

University of Nevada, Las Vegas (1992)