Evaluation of droplet-based microfluidic platforms as a convenient tool for lipases and esterases assays

Abstract

The accurate estimation of kinetic parameters is of fundamental importance for biochemical studies for research and industry. In this paper, we demonstrate the application of a modular microfluidic system for execution of enzyme assays that allow determining the kinetic parameters of the enzymatic reactions such as V_max – the maximum rate of reaction and K_M – the Michaelis constant. For experiments, the fluorogenic carbonate as a probe for a rapid determination of the kinetic parameters of hydrolases, such as lipases and esterases, was used. The microfluidic system together with the method described yields the kinetic constants calculated from the concentration of enzymatic product changes via a Michaelis–Menten model using the Lambert function W(x). This modular microfluidic system was validated on three selected enzymes (hydrolases).

Keywords:

• Enzyme assay
• lipases
• esterase
• microfluidics
• kinetic enzymatic reactions
• Lambert function

Additional information

Funding

We gratefully acknowledge the financial support of the National Science Center project Poland OPUS No. 2016/23/B/ST5/03307 for financial support.