March 29, 2024, 07:28:42 AM
Forum Rules: Read This Before Posting


Topic: Enzyme activity calculations  (Read 11544 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline asd123

  • New Member
  • **
  • Posts: 3
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Enzyme activity calculations
« on: June 12, 2011, 01:29:20 PM »
Hi everybody!

The solution of enzyme reaction was made in the following way:
buffer: 0,8ml substrate solution 0,2ml and NADH 0,1ml
The reaction was started with 100microL enzyme solution.

There is graph where you calculate the absorbance. I think I got the right one A = 0,44
extinction coefficient of NADH is 6,22 x 103M-1cm-1.

What is the enzyme activity U/ml?

Using the c = A/epsilon(=extinction coefficient of NADH)   you can get the concentration which is about 7,07 x 10-5M.

So, how to proceed? My guess is that next I should divide this with total volume, but I am not sure.


Google does not find anything helpful. I have only on example which is quite unclear. Thank you beforehand for any help
« Last Edit: June 12, 2011, 01:41:09 PM by asd123 »

Offline Yggdrasil

  • Retired Staff
  • Sr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3215
  • Mole Snacks: +485/-21
  • Gender: Male
  • Physical Biochemist
Re: Enzyme activity calculations
« Reply #1 on: June 12, 2011, 02:48:11 PM »
One unit of enzyme activity is defined as the amount of enzyme required to convert one µmol of substrate into product in one minute.  Therefore, to calculate the number of units of enzyme in your 100µL of solution, you first need to find out how many µmol of product you formed.

Offline asd123

  • New Member
  • **
  • Posts: 3
  • Mole Snacks: +0/-0
Re: Enzyme activity calculations
« Reply #2 on: June 13, 2011, 05:03:17 PM »
One unit of enzyme activity is defined as the amount of enzyme required to convert one µmol of substrate into product in one minute.  Therefore, to calculate the number of units of enzyme in your 100µL of solution, you first need to find out how many µmol of product you formed.
Well, after dividing 7,07 x 10micromole x ml-1 x min-1 with 1,2ml(total V) i get about 5,89 U/ml so I think this is the correct answer. Isn't it? :)

Sponsored Links