Enzyme kinetics characterization with Isothermal Titration Calorimetry

Date recorded: September 14 2021

Enzymes are the catalysts of life, accelerating chemical reactions in living organisms. Enzyme reactions are widely applied in industry, for example as ingredients in laundry detergents, in the production of cheese, or to synthesize pharmaceutical drugs.

To apply enzymes in industrial processes, a detailed understanding of the molecular mechanisms is needed, requiring in depth studies on their reaction mechanisms. Such mechanistic studies can be performed with isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC). The combination of binding and kinetic experiments with ITC provides a comprehensive and revealing picture of the molecular origin of enzyme mechanisms. To ensure reproducibility and quality of these data, careful controls are needed to prevent measurement artefacts and ensure accurate conclusions on the enzyme mechanism.

In this webinar, Gudrun Gygli, a researcher from Karlsruhe Institute of Technology will share her experience on how ITC can be applied to the study of enzyme mechanisms of complex, multi-substrate reactions and what control experiments and additional technologies can be used to ensure the quality and reproducibility of the data. This webinar will also cover the importance of sample preparation, and the advantages of ITC over spectroscopic assays to measure enzyme kinetics.