3.

6 enzyme
3.6.1. Define Enzyme and active site

Enzymes are globular proteins

which act as catalysts of chemical
reaction.
Active site is a region on the
surface of an enzyme to which
substrates bind and which
catalyses a chemical reaction
involving the substrates.
. What is an enzyme?

An enzyme is a globular protein that is capable

of catalyzing a specific chemical reaction.
Catalyzing means that the rate of the reaction
is increased even if nothing else is changed.
By bringing two substrates together, and
facilitating a bond to form between them.
By breaking a substrate apart to produce 2 or
more products.
 
Define active site.
The active site is the specific region of an
enzyme to which the substrate or substrates
bind.

 What are substrates and products?

The substrate or substrates are the specific
molecules or ions that bind to the active site
of an enzyme in order to be changed in a
specific chemical reaction.
 
The product or products are the specific
molecules or ions that are the result of a
specific chemical reaction.
Other enzymes are more flexible, and change shape
when an appropriate molecule, the substrate, binds
to an active site.
 

This allows a group of related molecules that have similar

shapes to be able to bind, eg peptidases.
. In the space below, use diagrams to compare the lock-and-key
hypothesis with the induced-fit model of enzyme activity.
 

Some enzymes have a static active site

Substrate molecules fit into active site where chemical
change occurs
This prevents possible but undesirable substrates from binding.

3.6.2. Explanation of enzyme-substrate specificity
Enzymes are large molecules folded to form a three-
dimensional globular structure;
The folding creates a specifically shaped three-
dimensional ‘pocket’ on the surface into which the
substrate or substrates can fit;
The shape of the active site matches the shape of the
substrate(s);
Active site match the shape of substrate and match the
chemical properties of substrate;
The way in which enzyme substrate fit together is similar
to the way in which a key fit a lock.
This brings substrates together in the correct orientation
The bonds in the substrate(s) are weakened and making
a reaction easier
How Enzyme Can Lower the Chemical reaction
 Enzymes are protein catalysts that carry out the chemical
reactions of metabolism. All chemical reactions require activation energy
to break chemical bonds and begin the reaction. The need for activation
energy acts as a barrier to the chemical reaction occurring and/or to the
speed at which it occurs. Enzymes lower the barriers that normally prevent
chemical reactions from occurring (or slow them down) by decreasing the
required activation energy. Thus, in the presence of enzymes, reactions
proceed and/or proceed at a faster rate.
 All chemical reactions require some amount of energy
to get them started. This energy is called activation energy. The way
enzymes operate is by effectively lowering the amount of activation
energy required for a chemical reaction to start. Sometimes this
happens because enzymes might weaken a covalent bond within a
substrate molecule. In other cases this lowering of activation energy
seems to happen because the enzyme binds the substrate molecules
in a particular position that increases the likely that the molecules are
going to react.
3.6.2
.
3.6.4

What is denaturation?
 
Denaturation is a structural change in a
protein that results in a loss (usually
permanent) of its biological properties.
 
 . In the space below, produce sketch-graphs to show the effects of
temperature, pH and substrate concentration on enzyme activity.
Explain each graph.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

  At very low temperatures, enzymes are inactive.

The activity of enzymes increases when the temperature increases (and
therefore the reactions that they work on, or catalyze, will also become
faster).
Each enzyme has a special temperature that they are most active. This is
the optimum temperature for that enzyme. Each enzyme has its own
optimum temperature.
When the temperature is too high, the enzymes are destroyed, or
denatured
 Different enzymes work best at different pH.
 Amino acids making up the active site may change polarity in different
pH.
 Positively or negatively charged R-groups may be neutralized and thus
cannot bind the substrate(s).
 The pH that makes the enzyme most active is known as the optimum
pH.
If the pH is very high or very low, enzymes can be denatured.
 
7.6.4
7.6.4
 Explain how enzymes are used in the production of lactose-free milk and in two
other industrial processes.
  Many adults are intolerant of the lactose in milk;
 This is because as they get older the gene producing lactase gets switched off;
 Lactose is a disaccharide and cannot be absorbed by the gut;
 The lactose then gets fermented by bacteria in the large intestine resulting in
nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhoea;
 Milk is treated with lactase and this breaks down the lactose to the
monosaccharides glucose and galactose which are easily absorbed by the gut;
 Lactase is obtained from the fungus Kluyveromyces lactic.
 The lactase is often immobilised and the milk passed over it. This prevents the
lactase from being in the product and is more economical as the lactase can be
used repeatedly.
 Lactose-free milk is also used in the production of ice cream as lactose
crystallises when cold and makes the ice cream granular. The glucose and
galactose remain dissolved and so the ice cream is smoother.
 In yoghurt production bacteria ferment lactose slowly but ferment glucose and
galactose much more quickly making production faster.
 Lactose is not a sweet tasting sugar whereas glucose and galactose are. By
changing the lactose into these two sugars foods such as yoghurt and ice cream
made from lactose-free milk need less added sugar to make them taste sweet.
 
1. Pectinase in fruit juice extraction:
Pectin is a polysaccharide in plant cell walls
Pectinase hydrolyses pectin into simple sugars
Fruit juice comes from the cell cytoplasm
Pectin binds to cytoplasm when the cell wall is
crushed reducing juice yield
Pectinase makes fruit pulp more liquid so more juice
is extracted
Some fruit produce cloudy juice
Pectinase makes juice more clear by digesting
suspended solids
Juice more sweet after the pectin is broken by
pectinase into sugar
Besides pectinases, we can use cellulases
.
2. Biological washing powder: using proteolytic enzyme.
 Biological washing powder contains enzymes which break down stains and
dirt whilst in the wash. A non-biological washing powder does not contain
these enzymes and this is the major difference.

 Sometimes the enzymes may be artificially created so that they are more able
to remove stains, particularly ones which are very deep and dried on to the
fabric.
Some people with very sensitive skin may find it better to use a non-biological
powder, although this may not be as effective at getting rid of stains !
In terms of the environmental impact, neither system is perfect. Whilst the
enzymes contained in a biological wash powder may take longer to disperse
within the environment, the temperatures for washing can be lower than for a
non-biological powder. The non-bio powder could take a higher temperature
to do the same wash, which uses more electricity and water and this also has
an environmental impact.
 Primarily proteases, produced in an extracellular form from bacteria. Used for
presoak conditions and direct liquid applications helping with removal of
protein stains from clothes.
 Amylases:
Detergents for machine dish washing to remove resistant starch residues.
 Lipases:
Used to assist in the removal of fatty and oily stains
Meat Tenderizer: using papain (proteolytic enzyme)…. To soften
meat for cooking.
some household products use enzymes to speed up biochemical
reactions (e.g., enzymes in biological washing powders break
down protein or fat, stains on clothes; enzymes in meat
tenderizers break down proteins, making the meat easier to
chew).

Production of glucose syrup:

Amylases, amyloglucosideases and glucoamylases : Converts
starch into glucose and various syrups.

Glucose isomerase: Converts glucose into fructose in production

of high fructose syrups from starchy materials. These syrups
have enhanced sweetening properties and lower calorific
values than sucrose for the same level of sweetness.