Biochemistry 2280A Lecture 5: Boffa Topic 5
20 Feb 2017
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Document Summary
Describe what an enzyme is and how it accelerates biochemical reactions. Understand the different types of reactions that enzymes can perform. Biological catalysts: perform nearly all chemical transformations in a cell, accelerate reactions without themselves being changed. Enzymes are regenerated in their original form after a reaction is complete. Substrate molecule on which enzyme acts. Specificity: many enzymes will recognize & act upon only one or a few of the hundreds of thousands of kinds of molecules in the cell. Fidelity: enzymes almost never make a mistake such as recognizing improper substrate or producing incorrect product and thus result in close to 100% yield. Rapidity: enzymes can accelerate reactions by billions or trillions of times over the rate of uncatalyzed reactions. Ability to work under mild conditions: low temperature (e. g. 37oc) and pressure, neutral ph. Types of chemical reactions carried out by enzymes: Hydrolytic cleavage using water: nucleases, proteases, phosphatases. Condensation connect molecules together: polymerases, synthases.
