biology Flashcards
what are amino acids
-proteins
there is a central carbon atom with 4 chemical groups attached
- hydrogen atom
-amino group
carboxyl group
-variable R group
there are 20 different R groups so there are 20 different amino acids
what are amino acids linked together by
peptide bonds
what are peptide bonds
- when a condensation reaction occurs so water is produced between 2 amino acids
- a dipeptide is formed by two amino acids linked by a peptide bond
- three amino acids form a tripeptide
- many amino acids join to form a polypeptide
what is a protein
a polypeptide with more than 50 amino acids
what is a secondary structure
- formed by polypeptide chains
- the structure is held in shape by hydrogen bonds
- the common shapes include are a-helix and b-pleated sheets
what is a tertiary structure
- a secondary structure that is folded into a 3-dimensional shape
- gives the enzyme the shape of its active site
what is an active site
- the area of the enzyme where the substrate binds
- made of a small number of amino acids to form a specific shape due to the proteins in the secondary and tertiary structure.
- when enzymes catalyse the reaction takes place on the active site of the enzyme
what happens with a substrate and active site
- substrates are converted into products
- the substrate binds to the active site
- specific substrates will bind to a particular enzymes active site
what is a complementary shape
when a substrate is only able to fit into the active site of a specific enzyme
what happens after the reaction in the active site
- the product is released and the active site is available to catalyse another reaction
what are the only ways an active site will not fit into a substrate
- if the temp goes too high, the hydrogen bonds will break
- the enzyme changes shape
- the active site loses its shape
- the enzyme is denatured and is unable to act as a catalyst.
what is the collision theory
- particles must collide
- particles must have enough energy to react
- the energy of the collision depends on the speed of the particle and the angle they collide
- the minimum energy needed for particle to react is the activation energy
when will the activation of the enzyme lower
- when more particles have required energy to react
- there is more successful collisions
- there is a faster reaction
what is catalytic activity
increase in the rate of a reaction caused by the inclusion of an enzyme
what is a substrate
the molecule that is affected by the action of the enzyme
what is denatured
when the tertiary structure of the enzyme is changed
how can you measure the rate of enzyme reaction
-measuring the decrease in substrate
-measuring the increase in the product
measuring the increase in the product is easier as you know the starting measurement for the product will be 0.
the initial rate of reaction must be recorded because the rate will decrease as the substrate is used up and its concentration decreases
what are factors affecting activity of an enzyme
- temperature
- pH
- concentration
how does temperature affect the enzyme
- each enzyme has an optimum temp at which it works fastest
- in humans, it is 40 degrees
- as the temp increases the optimum the rate of reaction increases
- below optimum temperature, there is less energy = fewer collisions = slower reaction
- above optimum temp - hydrogen bonds in enzyme break = hydrogen bonds in enzyme break = enzyme and active site loses its shape (denatured) = no catalysis
how does pH affect the enzyme
- enzymes have an optimum pH
- the pH is between 7 and 8
- pH affects the charge on the active site, if pH changes then the charges on the active site change and the substrate may no longer be able to bind to it.
what does the concentration affect in the enzyme
the concentration of the enzyme and of the substrate affect the rate of reaction
what will the increase in substrate concentration lead to
- increase in the rate of collisions
- increase in rate of reaction
what will the increase in enzyme concentration lead to
- increase in the rate of collisions
- increase in the rate of reaction
what will happen if the concentration of the substrate is too high
- there will be no more active sites for them to bind to.
- this will mean that increasing the concentration of the substrate will no longer affect the rate of reaction
what will happen if the concentration of enzyme is too high
there are too many free available active sites compared to substrate molecule, the rate of reaction will no longer increase
what is diffusion
the movement of molecules down a concentration gradient in a semi-permeable membrane from a region of high to low concentration. diffusion is passive so it doesnt require an input of energy
how does the dye and water experiment relate to diffusion
- when the dye molecules are added they move from a high concentration to areas of low concentration until the dye molecules has been equally spread
- the molecules are in dynamic equalibrium