Bio: Enzyme and Active Site Essay example

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Words: 1239
Pages: 5

Enzymes

By Jadaida Glover

Jadaida glover
1. What are enzymes?
1. What are enzymes made of?
Like all other proteins, enzymes are made of amino acids. Each enzyme is made of between a hundred and upwards of a million amino acids placed like pearls on a string. Each amino acid is bonded to the next by chemical bonds
.

2. How are enzymes made?
Enzymes are made by stringing together between 100 and 1,000 amino acids in a very specific and unique order. The chain of amino acids then folds into a unique shape. That shape allows the enzyme to carry out specific chemical reactions ­­ an enzyme acts as a very efficient catalyst for a specific chemical reaction. The enzyme speeds that reaction up tremendously. 3. Where are enzymes made (specific organelle in the cell)? In the
DNA of the cell
4. What is the active site of an enzyme? The active site is a small port in an enzyme where substrate molecules bind and undergo a chemical reaction. This chemical reaction occurs when a substrate collides with and slots into the active site of an enzyme.
5. Where are enzymes located (specific organelle in a cell)? In the cytoplasm and mitochondria enzymes are found.
2. What do enzymes do in a biological system?
Enzymes function as catalysts, which means that they speed up the rate at which metabolic processes and reactions occur in living organisms.Usually, the processes or reactions are part of a cycle or pathway, with separate reactions at each step. Each step of a pathway or cycle usually requires a specific enzyme. Without the specific enzyme to catalyze a reaction, the cycle or pathway cannot be completed.The result of an uncompleted

cycle or pathway is the lack of a product of that cycle or pathway. And, without a needed product, a function cannot be performed, which negatively affects the organism.
1. What is a chemical reaction? A chemical reaction is a process that involves rearrangement of the molecular or ionic structure of a substance, as opposed to a change in physical form or a nuclear reaction. 2. What is a catalyst? A catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction without itself undergoing any permanent chemical change.
3. How do enzymes impact chemical reactions?
They bring the reactants closer together, chemical bonds may be weakened and reactions will proceed faster than without the catalyst.They also lower the energy required for starting the reaction which means the reaction can then take place at a lower temperature, in the presence of less light, etc 4. What is activation energy? Activation energy is the minimum quantity of energy that the reacting species must possess in order to undergo a specified reaction.
5. What are the two broad kinds of chemical reactions?
Homogenous and Heterogeneous chemical reactions 3. What are the effects of environmental conditions on enzymatic activity? To function in a highly regulated manner the activities of the enzymes that carry out the work of the cell are controlled by their environments. Thus factors like pH, salt concentration, substrate and inhibitor concentrations have profound effects of enzyme activity.
1. What are the effects of the pH on enzymatic activity? The pH of a solution can have several effects of the structure and activity of

enzymes.For example, pH can have an effect of the state of ionization of acidic or basic amino acids. Acidic amino acids have carboxyl functional groups in their side chains. Basic amino acids have amine functional groups in their side chains. If the state of ionization of amino acids in a protein is altered then the ionic bonds that help to determine the 3D shape of the protein can be altered. This can lead to altered protein recognition or an enzyme might become inactive.Changes in pH may not only affect the shape of an enzyme but it may also change the shape or
charge