1.7 - Enzymes

• Enzymes - biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions in living organisms
• enzyme - biological catalyst

  • speeds up chemical reactions
  • Helps break down/build molecules
  • reusable
  • have specific shapes that ONLY react with specific substances
• Substrate - A substance that is used by an enzyme to carry out a reaction.
• substrates and enzymes bond together
• Active Site - a pocket in an enzyme that binds to the substrate
• Induced-Fit Hypothesis - The enzyme changes shape to better attach to substrate.
• Enzyme-Substrate Complex - describes how enzymes are bonded to substrate(s)
• Cofactors - inorganic/non-protein group that binds to enzymes to help them function

  —> metals such as zinc, copper, iron, etc,.
• Coenzyme - an organic molecule acting as a cofactor of an enzyme

  —> may be derived from vitamins
• What is the lock and key analogy?

  Enzyme-substrate interaction.
• Lock and Key Analogy - A model used to describe the relationship between enzymes and their substrates. It suggests that there is a specific fit between the active site on the enzyme and the substrate.