Development of a non-radioactive iodine label-based method for the determination of proteolytic activity

Abstract

A method for the determination of proteolytic activity is described, based on the use of non-radioactive iodine-labelled bovine serum albumin (BSA) as the substrate for proteolytic activity. Iodinated BSA catalyses the Sandell–Kolthoff reaction, involving the oxidation of arsenic(III) by cerium(IV), and the degree of catalysis can be used to detect proteolytic activity. The assay is simple and sensitive, allowing the detection of 100 ng ml^–1 of proteinase.