The a-cliymotrypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of succinyl-~-alanyl-~-alanyl-~-prolyl-~-phenylalanyl p-nitroanilide has been studied in reverse micelles of sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate (AOT) in isooctane. It has been found that a-chymotrypsin is strongly inhibited competitively by the acidic peptide product which is formed during the course of the reaction. It has also been shown that the application of the integrated form of the Michaelis-Menten equation can be useful to detect possible inhibition effects and abnormal kinetic behavior of enzymes in reverse micelles. Furthermore, it has been shown that the turnover number (k,,,) at low water content is lower than in water and increases as the water content in the system (w, = One of the most surprising findings for (certain) enzymes in reverse micelles is 'superactivity', a term which is currently being used in the literature on micellar enzymology for describing the fact that the turnover number, k,,,, is, for some enzyme/substrate systems in reverse micelles, higher than in water [16, 191. Different research groups have reported that a-chymotrypsin belongs to the 'superactive' enzymes [20 -231. Although a-chymotrypsin is the most intensively studied enzyme in reverse micelles, discrepancies can be found in the literature, mainly those concerning the dependence of the enzyme activity on w, [21-231. The present paper should help in understanding the reason for some of these discrepancies. Throughout this paper we will consider in more detail the kinetics of the a-chymotrypsin-catalyzed hydrolysis of succinyl-L-alanyl-L-alanyl-L-prolyl-L-phenylalanyl p-nitroanilide (abbreviated as Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-NH-Np) in reverse micelles formed by AOT [sodium bis(2-ethylhexyl)sulfosuccinate] in isooctane.We will first put forward experimental evidence which shows that the kinetic behavior of a-chymotrypsin against the chromogenic tetrapeptide Suc-Ala-Ala-Pro-Phe-NH-Np resembles that in water as w, is increased (i.e. as the reverse micelles are enlarged).Secondly, we will demonstrate that a-chymotrypsin is strongly inhibited in reverse micelles by product, the overall inhibition constant being up to almost 400 times lower than in bulk water.Special attention has to be paid to the substrate, Suc-AlaAla-Pro-Phe-NH-Np, since it is one of the 'best' synthetic substrate for a-chymotrypsin: both high affinity (i.e. low K, value) and high reactivity (i.e. high k,,,) have been reported [24]. Thus, analysis of the time course of the reaction in reverse micelles can easily be performed by using the integrated Michaelis-Menten equation which has never been used before for analyzing enzyme-catalyzed reactions in reverse micellar systems.
MATERIALS AND METHODS
ReagentsAOT was a product from Sigma (USA) and was used as obtained. Newer batches of Sigma AOT are of satisfactory