What are the characteristics of enzymes?
Posted January 22, 2024
Answer
Enzymes have these key characteristics:
- They are proteins with a specific sequence of amino acids that fold upon themselves, forming a specific globular structure
- Increase the rate of chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy of the reaction
- Remain unchanged after catalyzing a reaction
- Can be used repeated for similar reactions due to the fact that they remain unchanged
- Are specific in their actions and catalyze only specific chemical reactions due to the complementary fit between the enzyme's active site and the substrate
- The presence of an enzyme in a cell does not interfere with chemical reactions other than its own because it is specific to its reaction
- Are required in minute amounts to speed up chemical reactions, with a typical enzyme being able to catalyze about 100 to 10,000 substrates into products a second
- Are affected by temperature with peak efficiency at a specific temperature
- Are affected by pH with peak efficiency within a specific pH range
- Can get denatured and lose their structure in extreme high temperatures or extreme pH
- Their catalytic activity can be inhibited by adding certain substances called inhibitors
Additional resources
Cooperativity and flexibility in enzyme evolution
Amplite® Fluorimetric Coenzyme A Quantitation Kit *Green Fluorescence*