ENZYMES
B Y M O O K H O L E P H A T S I
• Enzymes are :
o Catalysts that speed up the rate of a chemical
reaction without being changed or used up in the
reaction
o Proteins
o Biological catalyst : biological because they made in
W H AT A RE living cells and catalysts because they speed up the
rate of the chemical reactions
ENZYMES
o Necessary to all living organisms as they maintain
reaction speeds of all metabolic reactions (all the
reactions that keep an organism alive) at a rate that
can sustain life e.g Digestion
HOW DO
ENZYMES
WORK?
• Enzymes are specific to one particular substrate(s) as the
active site of the enzyme, where the substrate attaches, is
a complementary shape to the substrate
• This is because the enzyme is a protein and has a specific
3-D shape
ENZYME • This is known as the lock and key hypothesis
ACTION AND • When the substrate moves into the enzyme’s active site
SPECIFICITY they become known as the enzyme-substrate complex.
• After the reaction has occurred, the products leave the
enzyme’s active site as they no longer tit and itis free to
take up another substrate
Enzymes and substrates randomly move about in solution
When an enzyme and its complementary substrate randomly collide
- with the substrate sitting into the active site of the enzyme - an
enzyme-substrate complex forms, and the reaction occurs.
A product(or products)forms from the substrate(s) which are then
released from the active site. The enzyme is unchanged and will go
on to catalyse further reactions.
FA C TO R S A F F E C T I N G E N Z Y M E
ACTIVITY
• Temperature
• pH
• Enzymes are proteins and have a specific shape, held in place
by bonds
• This is extremely important around the active site area as the
specific shape is what ensures the substrate will fit into the
active site and enable the reaction to proceed
EFFECT OF • Enzymes work fastest at their ‘optimum temperature’ – in the
TE MPERATURE human body, the optimum temperature is 37⁰C.
ON ENZYME • Heating to high temperatures (beyond the optimum) will
ACTIVITY break the bonds that hold the enzyme together and it will
lose its shape -this is known as denaturation.
• Substrates cannot fit into denatured enzymes as the shape of
their active site has been lost
• Denaturation is irreversible - once enzymes are denatured
they cannot regain their proper shape and activity will stop
The optimum pH for most enzymes is 7 but some
that are produced in acidic conditions, such as the
EFFECT OF stomach, have a lower optimum pH (pH 2) and some
that are produced in alkaline conditions, such as the
PH ON duodenum, have a higher optimum pH (pH 8 or 9)
If the pH is too high or too low, the bonds that hold
ENZYME the amino acid chain together to make up the
protein can be destroyed
ACTIVITY
This will change the shape of the active site, so the
substrate can no longer fit into it, reducing the rate
of activity
Moving too far away from the optimum pH will cause
the enzyme to denature and activity will stop