Sucrose Hydrolytic Enzymes: Old Enzymes for New Uses as Biocatalysts for Medical Applications

Sucrose hydrolytic enzymes, widely used in a variety of food industries, employ sucrose as a substrate. In addition to their hydrolysis activities, they have other recently discovered characteristics that should make them useful for medical applications. Here, the two enzymes sucrose phosphorylase and invertase are discussed. Sucrose phosphorylase glycosylates non-carbohydrate small molecules and invertase can be used in a portable and personal biosensor to quantify a variety of analytical targets.