ENZYMES

Definition
Enzymes are catalysts: a substrate
that increases the rate of a chemical or
metabolic reactions without itself being
changed or use up.
Enzymes are globular proteins, which
means that they have a specific shape,
folded 3Dimensionally, having their
hydrophilic R-groups on the outside,
which makes them soluble,
How enzymes work
The substance on which an enzyme
acts is known as a substrate.

Organisms carry out metabolism which
consist of different reactions: each
reaction needs a different catalyst to
enable the reaction, hence, enzymes
are important for this.
Metabolic pathway
Hundreds of reactions linked together,
which makes the product of one
reaction, a substrate for a next.
Each step catalysed by different
enzyme

enzyme 1 enzyme 2 enzyme 3
A B C D
So back to how they work...
Enzymes have a small part where the
enzyme actually comes into contact with
the substrate molecule. This is known
as the active site.
This active site is responsible for the
enzymes specificity.

Active site
Active site: cleft in the enzyme surface
where amino acid residues are exposed,
& where the substrate binds to the
enzyme.



Lock and Key model
The substrate molecule fits into the
active site and interacts with amino
acids by ionic and hydrogen bonding,
and this forms an enzyme-substrate
complex.

This mechanism is known as the lock
and key model of enzyme action, where
the precise shape of the active site is
complementary to the shape of the
substrate.