Abstract
A simple kinetic model for the enzymatic activity of surface-active proteins against mixed micelles has been developed. This model uses the Langmuir adsorption isotherm, the classic equation for the binding of gas molecules to metal surfaces, to characterize enzyme adsorption to micelles. The number of available enzyme binding sites is equated with the number of substrate and inhibitor molecules attached to micelles; enzyme molecules are attracted to the micelle due to the affinity of the enzyme active site for the molecules in the micelle. Phospholipase C (Bacillus cereus) kinetics in a wide variety of dimyristoyl phosphatidylcholine/detergent micelles are readily explained by this model and the assumption of competitive binding of the detergent at the enzyme active site. Binding of phospholipase C to pure detergent micelles is demonstrated by gel filtration chromatography. The experimentally determined enzyme-detergent micelle binding constants are used directly in the rate equation. The Langmuir adsorption model predicts a variety of the characteristics observed for phospholipase kinetics, such as differential inhibition by various charged, uncharged, and zwitterionic detergents and surface-dilution inhibition. The essential idea of this model, that proteins can be attracted and bound to bilayers or micelles by possessing a binding site for the molecules composing the surface, may have wider application in the study of water-soluble (extrinsic) protein-membrane interactions.