Enzymes Flashcards
Chemical reactions
For chemical reactions to occur atoms must collide with one another in precise ways and the chance of the specific atoms to collide at the exact time you need it is low.
Heating up atoms increases its chance but you can’t do this in biological system due to the chance of denaturing them
Metabolic reactions
Are the chemicals reactions in our cells
Catalysts
Are chemicals that speed up a chemical reaction at low temperatures by lower the amount of energy needed for the reaction to occur
Enzymes
Our bodies have produce enzymes that act as catalysts allowing reactions to occur more rapidly using low temperatures and reducing the activation energy of the reaction,
( depending on the type of enzyme it attaches to its specific substrate to make a reaction go faster)
Substrate
Is the specific substance that has a specific enzyme it attaches to.
Active site
Is the specific area on the enzymes where the substrate goes to attach to the enzyme
When the substrate attach to the enzyme active site this is called the enzyme substrate complex
Naming enzymes
The enzyme is called correlating to its substrate it attaches to they use the suffix “ase”
Ex: lactase is the enzyme that interacts with lactose
How ph can affect enzymes
Enzymes can only function within an optimal ph range most human enzymes best work in ph between 6 and 8 (which are neutrals) but each enzyme is different. However if the enzyme is above or below is optimum pH range the enzymes doesn’t work as effectively
How temperature affects enzymes
Similar to pH temperature works the same enzymes work best at a specific temperature. Anything too low ( causes enzymes to be inactive or too high ( causes enzyme to denature) it’s optimal temperature renders them useless
How substrate concentration affects enzymes
Increasing the substrate concentration only increases its reaction rate minimally to a certain point. Increasing the substrate beyond its saturation point does not increase the reaction rate. But the increase concentration of enzymes increases the reaction rate.
Competitive inhibition
Inhibitor molecules are similarly shaped to substrates. This cause the inhibitor molecules and substrates to compete for the active site for the enzyme. And if the inhibitor molecules bind to the enzyme the substrate can no longer bond to the enzyme.
Feedback inhibition
Products of the metabolic reactions (the enzyme interacting with a substrate) must be regulated ( too much of the product created can lead to problems) therefore some enzymes have another binding site used to regulate the enzyme ( stop it from interacting with more substrates) called the allosteric site. The product created from the enzymes go back to bind to the allosteric site to block the active site from the substrate to stop the accumulation of product.
Metabolic pathways
Metabolic pathways is a series of chemical reactions that occur in the cells. When the are not regulated, ( accumulation of product from enzymes reactions) this causes body issues
Gigantism
A consequence of uncontrolled metabolic reactions. Gigantism is too much human growth hormone released during childhood due to a tumor on the pituitary which releases the hormone.
Wilson’s disease
Consequence of uncontrolled metabolic reactions. Copper accumulation in the body due to gene mutation that prevents the creation of protein responsible for clearing excess copper. Causes jaundice and problems with coordination etc
