We have raised a hypothesis that some polysaccharides, particularly those with a diverse range of functional groups within their repeating unit, may catalyze (bio)chemical reactions and as such act like enzymes. In this segment of this research, we focused primarily on the interaction between catecholamines like dopamine, norepinephrine or epinephrine and Cu2+. The kinetics of these interactions was studied in the absence or presence of polysaccharides. We observed that the rate of oxidation of these catecholamines is enhanced in the presence of Cu2+, but when the Cu2+ is chelated to polysaccharides like chondroitin sulfate type A or C, then the rate of oxidation is increased up to 20�fold compared to when no polysaccharide is present. We evaluated the effect of the polysaccharide, Cu2+ and catecholamine concentration on the rate of oxidation and attempted to model the reaction following the principles of the Michaelis-Menten theory as often applied to protein-based enzymes.

Polysaccharides as enzymes? The case of Cu<sup>2</sup><sup>+</sup>-mediated oxidation of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine in the presence of polysaccharides

246th National Meeting (2013)

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Polysaccharides as enzymes? The case of Cu2+-mediated oxidation of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine in the presence of polysaccharides

Polysaccharides as enzymes? The case of Cu²⁺-mediated oxidation of dopamine, norepinephrine, and epinephrine in the presence of polysaccharides