Metabolism

• Metabolic pathways consist of chains and cycles of enzyme-catalysed reactions
• Enzymes lower the activation energy of the chemical reactions that they catalyse
• Enzyme inhibitors can be competitive or non-competitive
• Metabolic pathways can be controlled by end-product inhibition
• What are the two models used to describe the way enzymes interact with substrates?


  Lock and Key, Induced Fit
• According to the lock and key model, the enzyme’s active site complements the substrate precisely
• According to the induced fit model, the enzyme’s active site will undergo a conformational change when exposed to a substrate to improve binding