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Updated: Aug 8, 2026

Measuring Enzymatic Stability by Isothermal Titration Calorimetry
Published on: March 26, 2019
The thermal behaviour of enzyme activity: implications for biotechnology
Robert Eisenthal1, Michelle E Peterson, Roy M Daniel
1Department of Biology and Biochemistry, University of Bath, Bath, BA2 7AY, UK.
Abstract:
The way that enzymes respond to temperature is fundamental to many areas of biotechnology. This has long been explained in terms of enzyme stability and catalytic activation energy, but recent observations of enzyme behaviour suggest that this picture is incomplete. We have developed and experimentally validated a new model to describe the effect of temperature on enzymes; this model incorporates additional fundamental parameters that enable a complete description of the effects of temperature on enzyme activity. In this article, we consider the biotechnological implications of this model in the areas of enzyme engineering, enzyme reactor operation and the selection and/or screening of useful enzymes from the environment.
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