Unit of Enzyme: Difference between revisions
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A unit of enzyme is defined as “an amount of [[protein|protein]] that produces 1 µmole of product per minute”. | |||
The “amount” is not a mass, it is, for want of a better word, a ‘blob’. You can buy enzymes in ‘Units’. You buy a vial that will contain a number of Units of enzyme. You then know that if you dissolve the contents of the vial in a solution how many µmoles of product per minute will be produced. If you buy 1 Unit of a particular enzyme from two different suppliers you may have vials that contain different weights of powder, but the work that can be done (i.e. the amount of product produced) will be the same. | The “amount” is not a [[mass|mass]], it is, for want of a better word, a ‘blob’. You can buy enzymes in ‘Units’. You buy a vial that will contain a number of Units of enzyme. You then know that if you dissolve the contents of the vial in a solution how many [[moles|µmoles]] of product per minute will be produced. If you buy 1 Unit of a particular enzyme from two different suppliers you may have vials that contain different weights of powder, but the work that can be done (i.e. the amount of product produced) will be the same. | ||
For example: | For example: | ||
[[Image: | [[Image:One unit.png|center|Pile 1 of Enzyme]]<br> | ||
<center>Pile 1 of Enzyme</center> | |||
<center>Pile 1 of Enzyme</center> | [[Image:One unit1.png|center|Pile 2 of Enzyme]] | ||
<center>Pile 2 of Enzyme</center> | |||
[[Image: | |||
<center>Pile 2 of Enzyme</center> | |||
Both ‘piles’ contain the same number of red balls (i.e. 4), and if 4 red balls are need to produce 1 µmole of product per minute (i.e. 1 Unit) then both piles can be said to contain 1 Unit of the enzyme, and yet, as you can see, there are many more balls in pile 2… Pile 1 is certainly more pure as there is less contaminant (yellow balls) around. | Both ‘piles’ contain the same number of red balls (i.e. 4), and if 4 red balls are need to produce 1 µmole of product per minute (i.e. 1 Unit) then both piles can be said to contain 1 Unit of the enzyme, and yet, as you can see, there are many more balls in pile 2… Pile 1 is certainly more pure as there is less contaminant (yellow balls) around. | ||
This is why ‘amount’ in “an amount of protein that produces 1 µmole of product per minute” is not a weight, it is, an ‘amount’, it is a ‘pile’, a ‘blob’ | This is why ‘amount’ in “an amount of protein that produces 1 µmole of product per minute” is not a weight, it is, an ‘amount’, it is a ‘pile’, a ‘blob’. | ||
Latest revision as of 12:11, 3 August 2010
A unit of enzyme is defined as “an amount of protein that produces 1 µmole of product per minute”.
The “amount” is not a mass, it is, for want of a better word, a ‘blob’. You can buy enzymes in ‘Units’. You buy a vial that will contain a number of Units of enzyme. You then know that if you dissolve the contents of the vial in a solution how many µmoles of product per minute will be produced. If you buy 1 Unit of a particular enzyme from two different suppliers you may have vials that contain different weights of powder, but the work that can be done (i.e. the amount of product produced) will be the same.
For example:
Both ‘piles’ contain the same number of red balls (i.e. 4), and if 4 red balls are need to produce 1 µmole of product per minute (i.e. 1 Unit) then both piles can be said to contain 1 Unit of the enzyme, and yet, as you can see, there are many more balls in pile 2… Pile 1 is certainly more pure as there is less contaminant (yellow balls) around.
This is why ‘amount’ in “an amount of protein that produces 1 µmole of product per minute” is not a weight, it is, an ‘amount’, it is a ‘pile’, a ‘blob’.