Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 12, 2025

Multi-enzyme Screening Using a High-throughput Genetic Enzyme Screening System
Published on: August 8, 2016
Mapping enzyme catalysis with metabolic biosensing
Linfeng Xu1, Kai-Chun Chang1, Emory M Payne2
1Department of Bioengineering and Therapeutic sciences, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
Abstract:
Enzymes are represented across a vast space of protein sequences and structural forms and have activities that far exceed the best chemical catalysts; however, engineering them to have novel or enhanced activity is limited by technologies for sensing product formation. Here, we describe a general and scalable approach for characterizing enzyme activity that uses the metabolism of the host cell as a biosensor by which to infer product formation. Since different products consume different molecules in their synthesis, they perturb host metabolism in unique ways that can be measured by mass spectrometry. This provides a general way by which to sense product formation, to discover unexpected products and map the effects of mutagenesis.
Related Concept Videos
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis
Regulation of Metabolism
Enzymes
Enzyme deficiencies can often translate into life-threatening diseases. For example, a genetic abnormality resulting in the deficiency of the enzyme G6PD...
Induced-fit Model
Enzymes exhibit substrate specificity, meaning that they can only bind to certain substrates. This is mainly determined by the shape and chemical...
Introduction to Metabolism
Amplifying Signals via Enzymatic Cascade

