Application of the Bicinchoninic Method of Assay for the Reducing Sugars to Determine Carboxymethylcellulase Activity of Cellulases Using a Microplate Reader

I. N. Zorov,^1,2 M. Yu. Dubasova,¹ A. P. Sinitsyn,¹ A. V. Gusakov,¹ A. A. Mitchenko,¹ V. A. Baraznenok,¹ B. Gutyerres,¹ and N. N. Popova¹

¹Department of Chemical Enzymology, School of Chemistry, Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, 000958 Russia; fax: (095) 939-27-42; E-mail: sinitsyn@cell.phys.msu.su

²To whom correspondence should be addressed.

Submitted November 25, 1996; revision submitted April 18, 1997.

---

A highly sensitive and rapid method of assay of the carboxymethylcellulase activity using ELISA plates was developed. The method includes hydrolysis of carboxymethylcellulose solution with cellulase preparations and subsequent determination of reducing sugars concentration in the wells of the plate by the bicinchoninic method. Comparison of the Somogyi--Nelson method with the bicinchoninic method indicates that the latter is more rapid and requires less reagents for serial analyses.

---

KEY WORDS: bicinchoninic method, carboxymethylcellulase activity, reducing sugars, cellulase.

---