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Structural Similarities Between Enzymes And Substrate

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An enzyme is a protein that increases the rate of a chemical reaction by lowering the activation energy of the reaction. This enables the reactant molecules to intake sufficient amount of energy to reach the transition state. The reactant that an enzyme acts on is referred to as the substrate. After the substrate molecule binds to an enzyme to form an enzyme-substrate complex, the enzyme converts the substrate to products of the reaction. The reaction that is catalyzed by an enzyme is very specific meaning that the enzyme will only bind to its specific substrate. For example, sucrase, an enzyme, will only bind to sucrose molecule. This specificity is due to a molecular recognition mechanism and it operates through conformational as well as structural similarities between the enzymes and the substrate. …show more content…

Enzyme inhibitors are known for hindering the action of enzymes. Many of the inhibitors simply attach to the enzymes through weak interactions resulting in reversible inhibitions. In the case of competitive inhibition, inhibitor molecules resemble and mimic the normal substrate molecules and compete with the the substrate for its attachment to the active site of the enzyme. This simply blocks the substrates from binding to the active site leading to an impeded enzymatic reaction. In contrast, a noncompetitive inhibitor does not necessarily compete with the substrate to bind to the active site. It bind to a different site on the enzyme and alters its shape in such manner that the active site becomes less

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