enzymes

Question 1

what are enzymes made of

Answer 1

proteins - amino acids

Question 2

why are enzymes called biological catalysts

Answer 2

they’re naturally produced and speed up reactions

Question 3

what is competitive inhibition

Answer 3

when the inhibitor competes with the substrate for the active site

Question 4

what is non competitive inhibition

Answer 4

when the inhibitor binds at the alternate site (allosteric site), altering the shape of the active site

Question 5

what does penicillin do

Answer 5

it inhibits the enzyme that forms cross-links in bacterial cell walls
growing bacteria have incomplete cell walls and can no-longer reproduce
the bacterial populatoin does not continue to grow

Question 6

how can an allosteric regulator regulate enzyme activity

Answer 6

when concentrations of the end product are too high, it will bind to the allosteric site of the first enzyme in the pathway, inhibiting the enzyme and stopping the pathway
when concs are too low it is released from the allosteric site and pathway is activated again

Question 7

what are cofactors

Answer 7

non-protein substances (i.e. not made from amino acids) that enzymes requre in order to function properly