what is the difference between a continuous time course assay and a fixed-time course assay

by Simeon Christiansen 3 min read

If an enzyme assay involves continuous monitoring of substrate or product concentration, the assay is said to be kinetic. If a single measurement of substrate or product concentration is made after a specified reaction time, a fixed-time assay results.

Full Answer

What is a continuous assay?

Continuous assay is an analytical method where the readings are taken continuously without stopping or holding the reaction. In other words, in a continuous assay, the course of the reaction is essentially followed continually until its completion. Therefore, sometimes this method is also known “ endpoint assay .”

What is end point or discontinuous assay?

In such cases a second strategy, called end point or discontinuous assay, is often employed. Having established a linear time period for an assay, one measure the signal at a single specific time point within the linear time period (most preferably, a time point near the middle of the linear phase).

What is the kinetic assay method?

In the kinetic assay method, the progress of the reaction is continuously measured as substrates are converted into products. Changes in concentration of both substrate and product cause shifts in measurements. What is the difference between endpoint and kinetic?

What is the difference between kinetic assay and endpoint?

In the kinetic assay method, the progress of the reaction is continuously measured as substrates are converted into products. Changes in concentration of both substrate and product cause shifts in measurements. What is the difference between endpoint and kinetic? The main difference between the two methods is how measurements are taken.

What is a continuous assay?

Continuous assay is an analytical method where the readings are taken continuously without stopping or holding the reaction. In other words, in a continuous assay, the course of the reaction is essentially followed continually until its completion.

What is a fixed time enzyme assay?

Continuous Enzyme Assay Sometimes referred to as 'endpoint assays', enzyme activity is measured via the quantity of substrate consumed, or the amount of product formed during the reaction over a fixed period of time. Both values are directly proportional to the concentration of enzymes present in the sample.

Under what conditions would a fixed time course assay be inappropriate?

Under what conditions would a fixed-time course assay be inappropriate? If you don't know concentration range of salt over which a protein of interest will elute.

Which method is generally preferred for enzyme assay?

Most enzyme assays are based on spectroscopic techniques, with the two most commonly used being absorption and fluorescence (Fersht, 1999).

What is the main difference between a stopped assay and a continuous assay?

Enzyme assays can be split into two groups according to their sampling method: continuous assays, where the assay gives a continuous reading of activity, and discontinuous assays, where samples are taken, the reaction stopped and then the concentration of substrates/products determined.

What is the difference between total activity versus specific activity?

Total activity is measured by the enzymatic activity in the volume of fraction used in the assay multiplied by the fraction's total volume. Specific activity is the total activity divided by total protein. The yield is the amount of activity retained after each purification step.

What is a time course assay?

The EpiScreen™ time course T cell assay is used extensively across the industry as a standard for preclinical immunogenicity testing. The assay provides an accurate and sensitive way to assess the overall immunogenicity of protein therapeutics during early lead selection or during manufacturing.

Does IC50 change with enzyme concentration?

The short answer to your enzyme inhibitor IC50 question is yes, the enzyme concentration does affect the measured IC50 of its inhibitor, especially if the inhibitor is of the competitive inhibitor variety.

What is KP enzyme kinetics?

​Where [P] is the product concentration and Kp is the competitive inhibition constant, a value relating to the enzyme's affinity for the inhibitor. We can adapt this equation for time-course kinetics. Firstly, the substrate concentration must be made time-dependent to account for substrate depletion.

What is the principle of the assay?

Mammalian cells possess a wide range of mechanisms with which they can specifically respond to signals or stresses induced by compounds they are confronted with.

What is a coupled assay?

The determination of a substrate or enzyme activity by coupling of one enzymic reaction with another, more easily detectable, reaction. The product of the first reaction is the substrate for the second.

What is spectrophotometric assay?

During a spectrophotometric assay, the operator follows the course of an enzyme reaction by measuring the changes in the intensity of the light absorbed or scattered by the reaction solution.

What is the purpose of an enzyme assay?

Enzyme assays are performed to serve two different purposes: (i) to identify a special enzyme, to prove its presence or absence in a distinct specimen, like an organism or a tissue and (ii) to determine the amount of the enzyme in the sample.

What is a direct enzyme assay?

Enzyme assay is performed to determine the amount of enzyme in the sample and it is also used for identifying a special enzyme. The enzymatic assay can be direct or indirect, or coupled. In the case of direct assay, substrate is added to the sample and the end product formed is determined.

What is a coupled enzyme assay?

The determination of a substrate or enzyme activity by coupling of one enzymic reaction with another, more easily detectable, reaction. The product of the first reaction is the substrate for the second.

What methods are employed for determination of enzyme activity?

Fluorescence and magnetic resonance techniques are the major tools for imaging such chemical probes. The biochemical types of investigations may also use chemical probes, but the use of physical probes to introduce substrates and collect substrates and products is also common.

What is a continuous assay?

This strategy, referred to as a continu­ous assay, provides the safest means of accurately determining reaction velocity from the slope of a plot of signal versus time.

What is the time interval between initiation of the reaction and measurement of the signal?

where the intensity of the signal being measured at time t and time zero is given by I t and l 0 respectively, and t reading is the time interval between initiation of the reaction and measurement of the signal. In many instances it is much easier to take a single reading than to make multiple measurements during a reaction.

What Exactly Are Enzyme Assays And Why Do We Use Them?

An enzyme assay is the name given to any laboratory technique that measures enzyme activity within a sample.

Measuring Enzyme Activity

When it comes to measuring enzyme activity, both qualitative and quantitative methodologies can be used.

Types of Enzyme Assay

There are two types of enzyme assay, which can be split into two; continuous and discontinuous assays.

Factors That Affect Enzyme Assay

In order for an enzyme assay to remain accurate, controlling external factors so they do not influence the outcome of the assay is crucial.

Enzyme Assay Use Cases

Enzyme assays cover a wide range of real life use cases. A couple of examples of enzyme assays include the following:

Performing Enzyme Assays With Photopette Cell

In traditional enzyme assays, performing measurements via a spectrophotometer typically means obtaining samples in a cuvette and repeating.

FAQs

Why do we need to measure enzyme activity? Performing enzyme assays provide a wealth of information related to enzyme activity. This includes the identification of an enzyme, the concentration of enzyme and the rate of reaction within a sample.

Why do enzyme assays require measurements of product formation or substrate disappearanceover time?

Enzyme assays require measurements of product formation or substrate disappearanceover time in order to determine the initial rate (vo) for the process under consideration.Because of the problem of signal to noise ratio during the measurement of an initial rate,it is generally preferable to measure product appearance rather than substratedisappearance.

Can kinetics be used to prove a hypothesis?

Enzyme kinetics can be a powerful tool in providing quantitative evidence for an hypothesis.However, it is essential to always keep in mind that kinetics can never unequivocallyprove a model (since it is always possible to conceive of an alternative model that alsosatisfies the experimental data) but kinetics does allow one to rule out models whosepredictions do not fit the experimental data.