Effect of enzymes on reactions Essay

Effect of enzymes on responses entrance       The function of any enzyme largely depends on the arrangement of its amino acids. The squ atomic soma 18 off of an enzyme is so important such that any alteration or mixture in its amino acid sequence piece of tail have a huge effect on its function. An alteration to the amino acids in an enzyme does non only alter it shape but also its functionality. During a reaction, the consentaneous enzyme does not take part but rather a bantam part cognise as the mobile site. The shape and appearance of the active site in any enzyme is determined by its three dimensional structure. The active site of an enzyme houses the shape of the substrate that collects to be shiftd during the reaction. This fashion that enzymes and substrates work like a lock and divulge. Since a specific key potful only open a specific lock, this is explains why enzymes are specific in their reactions.How enzymes change state reactions  &nbs p    As noted earlier, enzymes serve as catalysts that speed up the rate at which biochemical reactions take place. They in general work by offering a transfigure pathway for reactions. Compared to separate catalysts, the pathway provided by enzymes reduces activation energy. The same with all other catalysts, enzymes introduce in reactions and this is the main way through which they offer a substitute reaction pathway. However, it is worthy noting that enzymes do not undergo any everlasting changes during a reaction but remain intact. on that point main share in a reaction is to increase the rate but not the position of the reaction equilibrium (Cornish-Bowden 47). Unlike chemicals that catalyze a number of reactions, enzymes are ordinarily very selective and can only catalyze precise reactions. This characteristic can be attributed to the shape of molecules that make up enzymes. Majority of enzymes are made up of a protein and non protein cognise as the co inciden tor. In most cases, the proteins found in the enzymes are globular. Any change in temperature and pH disrupts the inter-molecular and intra-molecular bonds that hold the proteins together in their tertiary and thirdhand structures. This means that catalytic ability of an enzyme is temperature and pH sensitive.       For any molecules to react, they must pick out into contact with one another. In other words, they must collide with rich energy and in the correct direction. Sufficient energy is important during a reaction because it helps the molecules overcome the energy barrier to the reaction. This type of energy is known as activation energy. During a reaction, the active side of an enzyme attaches itself to one of the reacting molecules known as the substrate. A reaction catalyzed by an enzyme takes a different way compared to that catalyzed by other catalysts. The coming together of an enzyme and a substrate results in a reaction intermediate.Enzyme substrate Enzyme-substrate complex       The best experiment that can be used to validate the claim that enzymes do in fact catalyze reactions is looking at how enzymes help valet de chambre beings digest food. There are different types of foods that are consumed by human beings. Some of the most common foods consumed by people are the twain types of sugars namely disaccharides and monosaccharaides. These two sugars are derived from foods like fruits which also contain fructose and glucose. All monosaccharides derived from the foods that we cancel out is absorbed directly and transported to different cells in the body (Cornish-Bowden 96). Unlike monosaccharides, disaccharides need to be broken down into their monosaccharide form before they can be absorbed into the body. In the absence of a catalyst, the rate at which the ingress of monosaccharide ga milk sugar and glucose take place is very slow. Since human bodies require a lot of energy to function properly, it is imp ortant that the absorption process is cheered through the use of an enzyme. The main enzyme that is produced by human bodies to urge the absorption process is known as a lactase. The experiment would aim the following steps.This experiment can be represented using the following diagram.Fill a tube with 20 ml of a lactose tooth root.Fill another tube with 20 ml of lactose solution and 2 ml of lactase solution. Shake the tube to ensure that the two solutions mix.Give the experiment 5 minutes for the lactose to breakdown into galactose and glucose.Use a test strip to monitor the process. Originally, the strip is usually assumptioned aqua. If it turns brown, olive or green, it is an indication that glucose is present.Compare the results from the two tubes.       If the color of the test strip turns brown, olive or green, this is an indication that glucose is present. This means that reaction in the tube with lactase was catalyzed resulting in the production of gluco se. The reaction in the other tube was slow because there was no catalyst to quicken the reaction. The result from this experiment indicates that indeed enzymes can play a rangy role in catalyzing reactions.ReferencesCornish-Bowden, Athel. Fundamentals of Enzyme Kinetics. (3rd edition), Portland Press, 2004. Print.Source document