Enzyme Structure

• Enzymes increase the rate of reactions, making them faster and therefore they are catalysts.
• Enzymes are biological catalysts as they are found in living organisms.
• Intracellular enzymes, such as catalase, are found inside cells and bind the toxic molecule hydrogen peroxide, speeding up its breakdown to the harmless molecules water and oxygen.
• Amylase, another enzyme, is produced in the pancreas and is released into the small intestine, catalyzing the breakdown of starch molecules into the disaccharide maltose, which is then broken down by other enzymes into glucose, which is absorbed into the bloodstream.
• Trypsin, an extracellular enzyme, is produced by the pancreas and released into the digestive system, catalyzing the breakdown of protein molecules into shorter fragments called peptides, which are then broken down by other enzymes into amino acids, which can be absorbed into the bloodstream.
• Enzymes increase the rate of reactions by lowering the activation energy barrier, allowing more substrate molecules to react.
• The lock and key hypothesis and the induced fit hypothesis are two different hypotheses to explain enzyme action.