What is the true enzyme kinetics in the biological system? An investigation of macromolecular crowding effect upon enzyme kinetics of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase

Enzyme kinetic parameters for rate equations are vital in metabolic network simulation, a major part of systems biology research efforts. Measurements of Michaelis–Menten kinetic parameters Km and Kcat have been performed for enzymes glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6P DH) under crowded conditions using molecular crowding agents bovine serum albumin (BSA) and polyethylene glycol (PEG) of 8000 Da molecular weight. An increase in Kcat was observed at very low concentrations of crowding agent, and also at high crowder concentrations when the experiment was performed at 45 °C with PEG. The observed pattern in Kcat for G6P DH at high crowder concentrations has been explained via modelling using excluded volume theory. An increase in rate was observed at 45 °C for G6P DH versus 30 °C; this has been modelled via the Arrhenius equation.

Research highlights
► Effect of molecular crowding on glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase was studied.
► Variations in enzyme kinetics were observed depending on concentration of agent.
► The effect of crowding was modelled using an excluded volume framework.
► At φ values greater than 0.25, a drop in Keq was predicted by the model.
► Modelling of kinetics performed using Arrhenius equation for temperature dependence.