Description

• General description: β-Galactosidase is a tetramer consisting of four equal subunits of 135,000 Da each. It is a sulfhydryl containing enzyme, with 19 cysteine residues per subunit.[1]
• Application: β-Galactosidase is conjugated to an antibody that specifically recognizes a target molecule (enzyme immunoassay or EIA).[2] β-Galactosidase is also used as a reporter enzyme to monitor the level of gene expression of a promoter.[3]
• Biochem/physiol Actions: β-galactosidase cleaves lactose into its monosaccharide components, glucose and galactose. It also catalyses the transglycosylation of glucose into allolactose, the inducer of β-galactosidase, in a feedback loop.
• Physical properties: Tetramer molecular weight 465 kDa (subunits 116.3 kDa each)
• Unit Definition: One unit will hydrolyze 1.0 μmole of o-nitrophenyl β-D-galactoside to o-nitrophenol and D-galactose per min at pH 7.3 at 37 °C.
• Physical form: Partially purified; contains Tris buffer salts, magnesium chloride, DL-dithiothreitol and 2-mercaptoethanol