1.4 biological reactions are regulated by enzymes Flashcards
(182 cards)
what kind of proteins are enzymes?
large globular proteins
what stage of structure do enzymes have?
they have a specific tertiary structure
what are enzymes’ roles?
they catalyse metabolic reactions in living organisms
what would happen to reactions in the absence of catalysis?
most reactions in biological systems would take place far too slowly to provide products at an adequate pace for metabolising organisms
enzymes are able to increase the rate of reaction by a factor of up to __ over uncatalysed reactions?
10^20
are enzymes proteins of high or low molecular weight?
high molecular weight
what are enzymes sensitive to?
- temperature changes (being denatured at high temperatures)
- pH
what do enzymes possess which chemical reactions take place in?
active site
what do endotherms do?
regulate their body temperatures so enzymes can function at near-optimum temperatures inside the organism
what are examples of endotherms?
birds and mammals
what are extracellular enzymes and where are they released from?
- enzymes that are secreted by cells for use outside of the cell
- they function outside of cells
where are intracellular enzymes found?
in the cytoplasm or attached to cell membranes
(they work inside cells)
where do the actions of intracellular enzymes take place?
they act inside the cells
what is an example of a protective enzyme?
lysozyme
are enzymes large or small molecules?
large
(100s of amino acids, most of which are involved in maintaining the specific shape of the enzyme but very few (often fewer than 10) form the actual active site)
what is the basis of the lock and key model?
- substrate molecules bind with enzyme molecules at the active site as a consequence of their complementary shapes
- only one substrate can fit into the enzyme’s active site
- both structures have a unique shape
what happens in an enzyme-catalysed reaction?
enzyme + substrate —> enzyme-substrate complex —> enzyme-product complex —-> enzyme + product
in reality, what actually happens instead of the lock and key model?
induced fit
what is induced fit in enzymes?
- substrate binds to the enzyme’s active site
- the shape of the active site changes and moves the substrate closer to the enzyme
- amino acids are moulded into a precise form
- enzyme wraps around substrate to distort it
- this lowers the activation energy (as puts a strain on the substrate)
E+S —> ES —> P+E
what does the induced fit model take into account?
that proteins (enzymes) have some three-dimensional flexability
according to the induced fit model, when can reactions only take place?
after induced fit has occured
do enzymes lower or increase the activation energy needed to drive a reaction?
they lower the activation energy
what is the active site dependent on?
- the sequence of amino acids in the polypeptide
- if the sequence of amino acids changes then the active site will change shape and the substrate will not bind tot he active site because they are no longer compulsory
(the active site has a specific shape)
when a substrate and an enzyme collide successfully, how does the substrate bind to the active site?
by interactions with R groups/polar atoms of the amino acids that make up the active site