Enzymes

An enzyme is a catalyst. Catalysts are known for speeding up the rate of reactions by lowering the activation energy of the biochemical reaction. (Reece et al., 2011)

Of the many functions of proteins, catalysis is by far the most vital. When catalysis is not present, most reactions in the biological systems take place very slowly to produce at an adequate pace for metabolising organism. The catalysts that take this role are called enzymes. Enzymes are the most efficient catalysts; they can enhance rate of reaction by up to 1020 over uncatalysed reactions. (Campbell et al, 2012).

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which accelerate the speed of chemical reactions in the body without being used up or changed in the process. Animals and plants contain enzymes which help break down fats, carbohydrates and proteins into smaller molecules the cells can use to get energy and carry out the processes that allow the plant or animal to survive. Without enzymes, most physiological processes would not take place. Hundreds of different types of enzymes are present in plant and animal cells and each is very specific in its function.

Enzymes are a very important to the biological process. Enzymes help break down food and are essential in helping convert that food to energy. Enzymes have a single function, which makes them unique and need specific conditions in order for the reaction to occur. Every function in an organism has its own unique enzyme (What are enzymes?). One important thing to know about enzymes is that they are proteins. According to rsc.org enzymes are efficient catalysts for biochemical reactions and they, “speed up reactions by providing an alternative reaction pathway of lower activation energy” (Enzymes).

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts for reactions. This simply means that enzymes lower the activation energy required for a reaction to take place, allowing a particular reaction to take place much quicker and easier. Specific enzymes only lower the activation energy for specific reactions, and enzymes are shape-specific. The unique folds of the amino

ith the myosin have been activated by the ATP, they will bind the action binding site.

Enzymes are types of proteins that work as a substance to help speed up a chemical reaction (Madar & Windelspecht, 104). There are three factors that help enzyme activity increase in speed. The three factors that speed up the activity of enzymes are concentration, an increase in temperature, and a preferred pH environment. Whether or not the reaction continues to move forward is not up to the enzyme, instead the reaction is dependent on a reaction’s free energy. These enzymatic reactions have reactants referred to as substrates. Enzymes do much more than create substrates; enzymes actually work with the substrate in a reaction (Madar &Windelspecht, 106). For reactions in a cell it is

Enzymes are a key aspect in our everyday life and are a key to sustaining life. They are biological catalysts that help speed up the rate of reactions. They do this by lowering the activation energy of chemical reactions (Biology Department, 2011).

“Enzymes are proteins that have catalytic functions” [1], “that speed up or slow down reactions”[2], “indispensable to maintenance and activity of life”[1]. They are each very specific, and will only work when a particular substrate fits in their active site. An active site is “a region on the surface of an enzyme where the substrate binds, and where the reaction occurs”[2].

1b. Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts. A catalyst is something that speeds up a reaction without changing its form. Enzymes speed up reactions by lowering the activation energy of a reaction. The activation energy of a

Enzymes are very efficient catalysts for biochemical reactions. They speed up reactions by providing an alternative reaction pathway of lower activation energy. Like all catalysts, enzymes take part in the reaction - that is how they provide an alternative reaction pathway. But they do not undergo permanent changes and so remain unchanged at the end of the reaction. They can only alter the rate of reaction, not the position of the equilibrium. Enzymes are usually highly selective, catalyzing specific reactions only. This specificity is due to the shapes of the enzyme molecules.

Enzymes are proteins that act as catalysts and help reactions take place. In short, enzymes reduce the energy needed for a reaction to take place, permitting a reaction to take place more easily. Some enzymes are shape specific and reduce the energy for certain reactions. Enzymes have unique folds of the amino acid chain which result in specifically shaped active sites (Frankova Fry 2013). When substrates fit in the active site of an enzyme, then it is able to catalyze the reaction. Enzyme activity is affected by the concentrations of the enzymes and substrate present (Worthington 2010). As the incidence of enzyme increases, the rate of reaction increases. Additionally, as the incidence of substrate increases so does the rate of reaction.

Enzymes are biological catalysts, which speed up the rate of reaction without being used up during the reaction, which take place in living organisms. They do this by lowering the activation energy. The activation energy is the energy needed to start the reaction.

There are thousands of chemical reactions that occur in an organism that make life possible. Most of these chemical reactions occur too slowly on their own. Enzymes are protein catalysts that speed up chemical reactions in a cell. Catalysts are not changed by the reactions they control, and are not used up during the reaction. Enzymes therefore, can be used over and over again. Enzymes are large complex proteins made by the cell and allow chemical reactions to take place at the temperature of the cell. These catalysts are needed in only very small amounts because a single enzyme molecule can complete the same reaction thousands of times in one minute.