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Updated: Mar 15, 2026

High-throughput Screening of Carbohydrate-degrading Enzymes Using Novel Insoluble Chromogenic Substrate Assay Kits
Published on: September 20, 2016
Dynamic changes of substrate reactivity and enzyme adsorption on partially hydrolyzed cellulose
Jian Shi1,2,3, Dong Wu2,4, Libing Zhang5
1Center for Environmental Research and Technology, University of California, 1084 Columbia Avenue, Riverside, CA 92507.
Abstract:
The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose is a thermodynamically challenging catalytic process that is influenced by both substrate-related and enzyme-related factors. In this study, a proteolysis approach was applied to recover and clean the partially converted cellulose at the different stages of enzymatic hydrolysis to monitor the hydrolysis rate as a function of substrate reactivity/accessibility and investigate surface characteristics of the partially converted cellulose. Enzyme-substrate interactions between individual key cellulase components from wild-type Trichoderma reesei and partially converted cellulose were followed and correlated to the enzyme adsorption capacity and dynamic sugar release. Results suggest that cellobiohydrolase CBH1 (Cel7A) and endoglucanases EG2 (Cel5A) adsorption capacities decreased as cellulose was progressively hydrolyzed, likely due to the "depletion" of binding sites. Furthermore, the degree of synergism between CBH1 and EG2 varied depending on the enzyme loading and the substrates. The results provide a better understanding of the relationship between dynamic change of substrate features and the functionality of various cellulase components during enzymatic hydrolysis. Biotechnol. Bioeng. 2017;114: 503-515. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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