Product inhibition is a type of

enzyme inhibition An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to an enzyme and blocks its activity. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions necessary for life, in which substrate molecules are converted into products. An enzyme facilitates a sp ...

where the product of an enzyme reaction inhibits its production. Cells utilize product inhibition to regulate of

metabolism Metabolism (, from el, μεταβολή ''metabolē'', "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms. The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cell ...

as a form of

negative feedback Negative feedback (or balancing feedback) occurs when some function (Mathematics), function of the output of a system, process, or mechanism is feedback, fed back in a manner that tends to reduce the fluctuations in the output, whether caused by ...

controlling

metabolic pathway In biochemistry, a metabolic pathway is a linked series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell. The reactants, products, and intermediates of an enzymatic reaction are known as metabolites, which are modified by a sequence of chemical reac ...

s. Product inhibition is also an important topic in

biotechnology Biotechnology is the integration of natural sciences and engineering sciences in order to achieve the application of organisms, cells, parts thereof and molecular analogues for products and services. The term ''biotechnology'' was first used b ...

, as overcoming this effect can increase the yield of a product, such as an

antibiotic An antibiotic is a type of antimicrobial substance active against bacteria. It is the most important type of antibacterial agent for fighting bacterial infections, and antibiotic medications are widely used in the treatment and prevention of ...

. Product inhibition can be

Competitive Competition is a rivalry where two or more parties strive for a common goal which cannot be shared: where one's gain is the other's loss (an example of which is a zero-sum game). Competition can arise between entities such as organisms, indivi ...

, non-competitive or uncompetitive.

Mitigation of product inhibition

Reactor Design

One method to reduce product inhibition is the use of a

membrane reactor A membrane reactor is a physical device that combines a chemical conversion process with a membrane separation process to add reactants or remove products of the reaction. Chemical reactors making use of membranes are usually referred to as membr ...

. These

bioreactors A bioreactor refers to any manufactured device or system that supports a biologically active environment. In one case, a bioreactor is a vessel in which a chemical reaction, chemical process is carried out which involves organisms or biochemistry, ...

uses a membrane to separate products from the rest of the reactor, limiting their inhibition. If the product differs greatly in size from the cells producing it, and the substrate feeding the cells, then the reactor can utilize a

semipermeable membrane Semipermeable membrane is a type of biological or synthetic, polymeric membrane that will allow certain molecules or ions to pass through it by osmosis. The rate of passage depends on the pressure, concentration, and temperature of the molecul ...

allowing to products to exit the reactor while leaving the cells and substrate behind to continue reacting making more product. Other reactor systems use chemical potential to separate products from the reactor, such as solubility of different compounds allowing one to pass through the membrane. Electrokinetic bioreactor systems have been developed which use

electrolysis In chemistry and manufacturing, electrolysis is a technique that uses direct electric current (DC) to drive an otherwise non-spontaneous chemical reaction. Electrolysis is commercially important as a stage in the separation of elements from n ...

, a process that uses electrical charge to remove the product from the bioreactor system. External loop reactor uses current created by air bubbles flowing through the reactor to create a flow that brings the reactor contents through an external loop. A separating membrane can be placed in the external loop to collect product, and reduce product inhibition. A downside to external loop reactors is they create additional

shear stress Shear stress, often denoted by (Greek: tau), is the component of stress coplanar with a material cross section. It arises from the shear force, the component of force vector parallel to the material cross section. ''Normal stress'', on the ot ...

. Submerged membrane bioreactors have the membrane contained within the main chamber of the bioreactor. Separative Bioreactor is a type of continuous reactor where the producing cells are mounted on a resin membrane as to not flow out of the reactor as substrate is passed over them. The continuous flow of the reactor takes the product downstream as it is produced.

Other methods of mitigating product inhibition

Integrated liquid-liquid extraction can be used to remove products that have a

density Density (volumetric mass density or specific mass) is the substance's mass per unit of volume. The symbol most often used for density is ''ρ'' (the lower case Greek letter rho), although the Latin letter ''D'' can also be used. Mathematical ...

that differs from the rest of the bioreactors contents. This is done by adding a

solvent A solvent (s) (from the Latin '' solvō'', "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for ...

downstream of the bioreactor and letting the product separate out in a settling tank before the bioreactor effluent is moved to a secondary reactor or returned to its initial reactor to continue its cultivation. This process can be done in batch or continuous operation. Vacuum extraction can be used in fermentation to remove

ethanol Ethanol (abbr. EtOH; also called ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, drinking alcohol, or simply alcohol) is an organic compound. It is an Alcohol (chemistry), alcohol with the chemical formula . Its formula can be also written as or (an ethyl ...

from a reactor. When the liquid in the vessel is placed in

vacuum A vacuum is a space devoid of matter. The word is derived from the Latin adjective ''vacuus'' for "vacant" or "void". An approximation to such vacuum is a region with a gaseous pressure much less than atmospheric pressure. Physicists often dis ...

conditions the ethanol begins to

evaporate Evaporation is a type of vaporization that occurs on the surface of a liquid as it changes into the gas phase. High concentration of the evaporating substance in the surrounding gas significantly slows down evaporation, such as when humidi ...

because its more volatile than the rest of the reactor contents. This technique requires an acclimation period for the yeast in the reactor to adapt to the lower pressure environment. Product neutralization if a products inhibition due to its pH then it can be neutralized in the reactor and further processed downstream back into its original form.

References

{{reflist Enzymes