Evaluation of the Main Factors Determining the Mode of Action of Immobilized Enzymes

Biotechnology and Applied Biology Section Evaluation of the Main Factors Determining the Mode of Action of Immobilized Enzymes* MANUEL G ROIG, FELIPE BELLO ESTEVEZ, FERNANDO GONZALEZ VELASCO and JUAN M CACHAZA Departamento de Fisicoquimica Aplicada y T~cnicas Instrumen tales Facuhad de Farmacia Universidad de Salamanca Salamanca, Spain Introduction Most enzymes, except for those of the digestive tract, exist in vivo associated with highly organized cellular material. Even the so-called soluble glycolytic enzymes are in fact immobilized either physically or chemically within the cytoplasmic matrix, i lowevcr, much further research is necessary to ehtcidatc the kinetics of the action of cnzymcs bound to solid supports, both natural and synthetic. Thc kinctic bchaviottr of an immobilized enzyme may differ from that of the frcc enzyme in several ways: (a) the interaction between the immobilized enzyme and the suhstratc takes place in