Context

To coordinate their activities, cells must transmit various signals, often involving cascades of enzymatic signaling. Any deregulation can lead to diseases, some of them very serious, such as cancer, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes and neurofibromatosis.

Direct quantification of enzymes in biological samples is difficult because these molecules are generally found at low concentrations in these highly complex media. Instead, the enzyme can be quantified from the concentration of the product of the reaction it catalyzes. On the other hand, an enzymatic reaction is characterized by kinetic constants such as the Michaelis-Menten constant (K _m ), which reflects the enzyme-substrate affinity. Measuring these parameters will enable us to gain a better understanding of the agents responsible for dysfunctioning the cellular process,...