Enzymes and Ribozymes

Spontaneous chemical reactions

chemical reactions that can occur in the preexisting conditions

nonspontaneous chemical reactions

chemical reactions that do not occur under the preexisting conditions. they need to be assisted

activation energy

energy required for a chemical reaction to occur

catalyst

chemicals that “speed up” chemical reaction without being used up in the reaction, lowers activation energy

Enzymes

catalyst made of protein, often end in -ase

Ribozymes

catalyst made of RNA (nucleic acid)

reaction cycle

Substrate binds to enzyme in active site

Enzyme-substrate complex performs chemical reaction (E-S complex)

New products are released and enzyme searches for new substrate

if something denatures a protein

it also denatures an enzyme

how many substrates do enzymes and ribozymes intercat with?

only 1

what is the induced fit theory

Enzymes active site fold around substrate, causes the reaction to occur

Coenzymes

chemicals required for enzymes to carry out their reactions. They also bind to the active site along with a substrate

Competitive inhibition

a regulator physically blocks the active site. It must compete for the active site with the normal substrate

Noncompetitive inhibition

a regulator has its own binding site. Changes the shape of the active site