ENZYMATIC ANALYSIS OF ARGININE WITH THE SAW CONDUCTANCE SENSOR SYSTEM

A specific and simple method for the determination of arginine was dev eloped by using a new type sensor, a surface acoustic wave (SAW)/condu ctance sensor system. The assay was based on two coupling reactions in volving arginase (E.C. 3.5.3.1) and urease (E.C. 3.5.1.5) with measure ment of frequency shift that resulted from the changes of conducting i ons produced in the reactions. Arginase,vas extracted from fresh bovin e liver and required no further separation step. The optimum pH (8.5) and reaction medium (Tris-HCl-EDTA, pH 8.5) were determined. We also i nvestigated the influences of reaction medium, pH, temperature, and am ount of urease or arginase on the frequency response of the SAW/conduc tance sensor system. The results were linear up to 4.0 x 10(-4) M of a rginine, and the detection limit was 2.0 x 10(-6) M. When the SAW/cond uctance sensor system was applied to arginine analysis, the results ob tained compared well with those of the pharmaceutical method.