An optimised MALDI-TOF assay for phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C

Abstract

The Bacillus cereus phosphatidylcholine-specific phospholipase C (PC-PLC_Bc) is an enzyme that catalyses the hydrolysis of phosphatidylcholines into phosphocholine and 1,2-diacylglycerols. PC-PLC_Bc has found applications in both the food industry and in medicinal chemistry. Herein, we report our work in the development and optimisation of a matrix assisted laser desorption ionisation time-of-flight (MALDI-TOF) mass spectrometry-based assay to monitor PC-PLC_Bc activity. The use of one-phase and two-phase reaction systems to assess the inhibition of PC-PLC_Bc with different structural classes of inhibitors was compared. We also highlighted the advantage of our assay over the commonly used commercially available Amplex Red assay. This method will also be applicable to work on the activity and inhibition of other phospholipases.