Detection of enzyme-catalyzed polysaccharide synthesis on surfaces

Strategically important cellular components, such as the cell wall and the starch granule, present surfaces during their biosynthesis and degradation. The enzymology of such surfaces is experimentally challenging and goes well beyond classical solution-state analyses. The kinetics of surface catalysis is complex but tractable. A number of approaches to monitor surface catalysis are reviewed and each is suited to a different biological problem. Particular attention is paid to a method we have recently developed for quantitatively monitoring polysaccharide synthesis on a surface in real time using surface plasmon resonance spectroscopy. This method has many attractive features with the potential to tackle both biological and industrial problems.