Carbonic Anhydrase Facilitated CO2 Diffusion Studied by Means of an Ammonia Sensing Urease Electrode

In the present work the influence of carbonic anhydrase (CA) on the gaseous exchanges of CO2 and NH3 in a buffered solution has been studied by means of a potentiometric technique involving the use of an urease sensor, whose sensing element was a commercial pNH3 gas sensing electrode. As pointed out in previous works, suitable experimental conditions were chosen in order to have a speed of CO2 diffusion sharply enhanced by CA. In particular the analytical aspect of NH3 production from a buffered urea solution, in the presence and in the absence of CA, is considered. The results obtained in the present work indicate a further possible application of this system to the study of living organism and tangibly support all the previous studies presented on this topic.