Answer to Question #288567 in Biochemistry for adi

Question

Destroying the Trojan horse. Penicillin is hydrolyzed and thereby rendered inactive by penicillinase (also known as ?-lactamase), an enzyme present in some resistant bacteria. The mass of this enzyme in Staphylococcus aureus is 29.6 kd. The amount of penicillin hydrolyzed in 1 minute in a 10-ml solution containing 10-9 g of purified penicillinase was measured as a function of the concentration of penicillin. Assume that the concentration of penicillin does not change appreciably during the assay. (How do you use the Michaelis-Menten equation without Vmax or Km?)

Answer 1

Conversion Required-

29.6kd = $4.915\times10^-20$ g

number of molecule of enzyme present =

$\frac{10^-9}{4.915\times 10^-20}$

=$2.03\times 10^-10$ molecules

Total mass =$\frac{2.03 \times(10)^10}{6.023\times(10)^20 }$

=3.37$\times$ 10$^-14$

V_max = K₂ $\times$ n

6.8$\times$ 10$^-10$ mol/min = K₂ $\times$ 3.37$\times$ 10$^-14$ mol

K₂ = 337 s$^-1$