Action of Enzymes is a part of the VCE Biology area of study ‘How do Cellular Processes Work?’ and subtopic ‘Biochemical Pathway Regulations’.
Enzymes are essentially a special type of protein that binds molecules called substrates, causing them to break down or stick together. Note that each enzyme protein is structured for a specific substrate. Now, these substrates will do that regardless of whether the enzymes are there although way too slowly, the enzymes simply provide a place where they CAN bind which does increase the likelihood of them actually breaking down or, sticking together which increases the reaction rate.
What do Enzymes Do?
The set of all chemical reactions that take place in the body make up the metabolism. Enzymes are therefore very important as they determine the metabolism. This video will go through enzymes in a little more detail.
Enzymes and Their Environment
Enzymes have ideal conditions in which they function. If the temperature around an enzyme is too high, or if it is too acidic, then the enzyme will denature (i.e. permanently damage the shape of the protein which makes it unable to function).
Note that if the substrate concentration increases, the enzyme activity will also increase until a certain point where all the enzymes are too busy to take on any more extra substrates leading to a plateau. This video will communicate how varying conditions will affect enzymes.
Need More Information?
This video takes you through a summary of what we’ve covered so far in this post.
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