Chapter 6- Enzyme Inhibition 10-9

• An enzyme has a specific shape that lets it bind its substrate

  • This shape is the active site

• Sometimes there is something that does not let the enzyme bind

• Cells can regulate enzymes with inhibitors

  • Competitive inhibitors

    • Interfers directly with the active site

    • Competing for the active site, if inhibitor physically blocks it is competitive

  • Noncompetitive inhibitors

    • Bind somewhere else

    • This changes the shape of the active site that no longer fits the substrate itself

    • Inhibitor does not sit in the active site

Allosteric Enzymes

• A regulatory site separate from the active site

• Can increase or decrease active site efficiency

Metabolism and Regulation

• Metabolism describes all the reactions