The electrochemical aspects of some biochemical systems I.—Investigations on the glucose oxidose and D-amino acid oxidase systems
✍ Scribed by M.J. Allen; A.T. Yahiro
- Publisher
- Elsevier Science
- Year
- 1963
- Tongue
- English
- Weight
- 460 KB
- Volume
- 8
- Category
- Article
- ISSN
- 0013-4686
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✦ Synopsis
One of the most efficient groups of energy conversion devices known are living systems such as bacteria, protozoa, plants, etc. The ingestion of food plus its reaction with various biological fluids in the presence of suitable biochemical catalysts unleashes the large amounts of energy in the form of heat and electricity necessary to sustain life. To understand these functions better a method was developed to obtain the potentials of various enzyme systems under varying conditions.
In one such system investigated, the glucose-glucoseoxidase system, glucose is oxidized to gluconic acid in a two-step reaction in which 2 hydrogen atoms are removed from the glucose molecule by the 2 Savin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) prosthetic groups of the enzyme. The intermediate compound gluconolacetone, reacts with water to form gluconic acid. The reduced Savin prosthetic groups are recycled by direct reaction with O1 to form HIOI and the original oxidized form of FAD.
The potentiating effects on the electrochemical potential of this system by trace quantities of certain proteins, iron compounds, etc., were quite dramatic.
These results together with similar data on other enzyme systems are presented.