Re: what are other possible ways to speed up an enzymatic reaction besides temp

Vanessa,

One has to be careful when using temperature to speed up enzymatic
reactions, because enzymes become structurally unstable at elevated
temperatures.  Enzymes differ greatly in their thermal stability, but for
many enzymes, anything above 35˚C could result in gradual loss of activity.
        
To optimize your enzymatic activity, make sure that the pH is at the
optimum for your particular enzyme.   If you don’t know what this is, you
can do some experiments at several pH values and experimentally determine
what the optimum pH is.  You can also make sure that any necessary
cofactors are present in your buffer solution.  For instance, is your
enzyme a metalloenzyme?  Such enzymes often show optimal activity if the
necessary metal ion is supplied in low concentrations in the buffer.  Aside
from these things, the only other option is to increase the concentration
of your enzyme and substrate by using smaller reaction volume.