Introduction:
Most biological reactions require catalysts such as enzymes to accelerate the rate of the product formation. Enzymes are proteins that have highly specific and complex structures that enable them to catalyze reactions in a highly effective and regulated manner. One of the most important biological catalysts is β-galactosidase. β-galactosidase is essential in the breakdown of the substrate lactose. Lactose is a disaccharide found in milk. β-galactosidase catalyzes this catabolic reaction, breaking lactose into two monosaccharides; glucose and galactose. Hydrolysis is used to cleave the oxygen bridge connecting the two sides of the lactose molecule.
β-galactosidase is widely used in the food industry, especially in the dairy
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Therefore, to determine those various constants, kinetic enzymatic activity must be measured. The absorbance will be measured using a a Genesys 10S UV-VIS spectrophotometer which uses VISIONlite software.
Fortunately the substrate specificity of the enzyme is such that a variety of different substrates, each with a β-Dgalactopyranoside moiety, can be acted upon. Investigators have taken advantage of this by synthesizing compounds which when hydrolyzed by β-galactosidase result in a colored product. One such compound is o-nitrophenol-β-Dgalactoside
(ONPG), which when hydrolyzed forms galactose and o-nitrophenol (Figure 1).
Figure 1. Enzymatic hydrolysis of o-nitrophenol-β-Dgalactoside
(ONPG) to of o-nitrophenol (ONP) and galactose by β-galactosidase. β-galactosidase catalyses the hydrolysis of the terminal β-D-galacto-pyranoside moiety resulting in the formation of the yellow (λmax 420 nm) compound ONP.
The compound ONP absorbs light at 420 nm whereas the precursor molecule ONPG does not. Therefore, the increase in light absorbance at 420 nm can be used to monitor β- galactosidase when ONPG is used as a substrate.
Materials and Methods: Safety considerations:
• Eating and drinking are not permitted in the laboratory at any time.
• Lab coats, safety glasses and gloves must be worn.
• DO NOT wear contact lenses in the lab.
• All students must have gone through WHMIS training and
Enzymes are biological catalysts that facilitate specific chemical reactions (Raven, et al., 2014). Enzymes do their job by
With both the stock substrate and varying enzyme solutions prepared, the Spec20 spectrophotometer was used to investigate the enzymatic activity of β-Galactosidase through an absorbance-based assay. Using LoggerPro software on the computer to analyze the absorption data, the Spec20 was calibrated before each run with 0.5 mL of the tested enzyme concentration at an absorbance of 420 nm. Data collection was then started, instantly followed by the addition of 0.5 mL of the stock 2.5 mM substrate solution, topping off the 1-mL cuvettes. Each of the nine varying enzyme concentrations were split between the team and run for a total of 10 minutes. Upon completion, data from each varying enzyme concentration was copied to a single Excel sheet and used
Enzyme catalysis is the increase in the rate of a chemical reaction by the active site of a protein. A catalyst is a substance that can help the reactants in a chemical reaction react with each other faster. The catalyst for this experiment is yeast. In this lab, the chemical combination of hydrogen peroxide and yeast are used to form a reaction of creating oxygen. The active sites of the yeast combines with the hydrogen peroxide and causes oxygen to form at various levels. Yeast is a one-celled organism belonging to the group of organisms called fungi. Yeast is sometimes used in genetic engineering to produce large quantities of enzymes that can be used for medical purposes as healing wounds and reducing inflammation (How Stuff
10 microliters of the sample is then added and the assay absorption is measured at 340nm. If absorbance was above 1.5, samples were diluted.
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).
Initially the absorbance was 1.410, and steadily increased by ~0.1 every thirty seconds. At 180 seconds the absorbance hit 2.070 which is the largest change of absorbance level out of the pH experiment. With a pH of 7 the absorbance levels started at 1.186. From there it increased to 1.325, then decreased to 1.023. The pH 7 solution did not have much effect on enzymatic activity as the absorbance maxed out early on.
Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions, without being used up or changed. Catalase is a globular protein molecule that is found in all living cells. A globular protein is a protein with its molecules curled up into a 'ball' shape. All enzymes have an active site. This is where another molecule(s) can bind with the enzyme. This molecule is known as the substrate. When the substrate binds with the enzyme, a product is produced. Enzymes are specific to their substrate, because the shape of their active site will only fit the shape of their substrate. It is said that the substrate is complimentary to their substrate.
Within a cell, enzymes are used as a catalyst to increase the rate of chemical reaction. They do not consume themselves, rather they help in increasing the rate of reaction. Within the body, enzymes vary depending on their specific functions. For instance, hydrogen peroxide is a toxic chemical, but it breaks down into harmless oxygen and water. This reaction can be sped up using the enzyme catalyst produced by yeast. Hydrogen peroxide is produced as a byproduct in cellular reaction, because it is poisonous and must be broken down, therefore this reaction is important. The speeding up of the reaction is shown below:
Organisms cannot depend solely on spontaneous reactions for the production of materials because they occur slowly and are not responsive to the organism's needs (Martineau, Dean, et al, Laboratory Manual, 43). In order to speed up the reaction process, cells use enzymes as biological catalysts. Enzymes are able to speed up the reaction through lowering activation energy. Additionally, enzymes facilitate reactions without being consumed (manual,43). Each enzyme acts on a specific molecule or set of molecules referred to as the enzyme's substrate and the results of this reaction are called products (manual 43). As a result, enzymes promote a reaction so that substrates are converted into products on a faster pace (manual 43). Most enzymes are proteins whose structure is determined by its sequence of its amino acids. Enzymes are designed to function the best under physiological conditions of PH and temperature. Any change of these variables that change the conformation of the enzyme will destroy or enhance enzyme activity(manual, 43).
The aim of the study is two-fold: to study the rate of absorbance with increasing concentration of glucose, and to measure the activity of enzyme yeast invertase on sucrose. In task 1, the product formation was measured using 3, 5-dinitrosalicyclic acid that reacts with glucose leading to a change in colour from yellow to reddish brown. In task 2, the enzyme kinetics of yeast invertase on sucrose was studied. The absorbance values of the corresponding volumes of the solutions were measured using a spectrophotometer. Michaelis-Menten curve and Lineweaver-Burk Plot were made in order to estimate the values of Vmax and Km
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, proteins that act as catalysts, are the most important type of protein[1]. Catalysts speed up chemical reactions and can go without being used up or changed [3] Without enzymes, the biochemical reactions that take place will react too slowly to keep up with the metabolic needs and the life functions of organisms. Catecholase is a reaction between oxygen and catechol [2]. In the presence of oxygen, the removal of two hydrogen atoms oxidizes the compound catechol, as a result of the formation of water [2]. Oxygen is reduced by the addition of two hydrogen atoms, which also forms water, after catechol is
Enzymes are an important role in a living cell. Enzymes are the substance produced by a living organism, which help cells to accelerate the chemical reaction that normally would take days to years. The experiments that we examined helped us identify the specifics in enzymes, and how they produced carbon dioxide in lactose and Melibiose. We filled test tubes with different solutions and placed them inside water that was thirty-seven degrees Celsius. As we did this we determined exactly how much Carbon dioxide would be released.
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)
The main methods used were that of spectrophotometry, using light and standard curves. A urea enzyme assay was performed via separating the proteins so as to observe which of these proteins were specifically causing an effect on the absorbance and produce urea. Another technique used in the experiment was the generation of a protein standard so as to determine the concentration of protein in the liver extract mixture