Inhibition Assays of Urease for Detecting Trivalent Chromium in Drinking Water

Abstract

Biosensors are becoming famous for the on-field analytic application in the research areas such as environmental and clinical monitoring, considering the significant impact of food and water quality of human life. The excessive presence of heavy metals in drinking water is a serious issue and needed to monitor efficiently. Chromium (Cr), a heavy metal in drinking water, is well known for its numerous health ailments such as skin irritation, gastrointestinal problems, and vital organ damage due to its carcinogenic, toxic, and non-degradable nature. The paper deals with the evaluation of urease activity in the presence of various trivalent chromium concentrations to estimate the enzyme inhibition. Urease catalyzes urea into ammonia and carbon dioxide. Phenate method was used to determine the amount of ammonia released by urease activity. Cr interacts with urease by binding to a sulfhydryl group in its active site and leads to decline in enzyme activity. The study discusses the variation of urease activity in suspension form in the presence of trivalent chromium ions. The outcome of the study can further ameliorate the knowledge on enzyme immobilization kinetics for the development of the enzyme inhibition-based biosensors to detect trivalent chromium in drinking water.