AP Bio 3.2 Environmental Impact on Enzyme Function

enzymes

• bind with their substrate based on the charge and shape of the active site

  • based on sequence of amino acids and protein folding

  • enables 1 reaction

• enable living things’ metabolism, allowing control over when and where reactions occur

• enzymes are proteins

  • protein’s function relies on their structure

    • extremely important for living things to maintain their environmental conditions so that their enzymes function effectively

enzymes have ranges of temperatures and pH’s where they function the most efficiently, or are the most optimal

• changes to conditions may cause enzymes, or any proteins, to lose their efficiency or even their function

• altering temperature and pH too much can cause denaturation

  • denaturation: disruption of secondary protein structure due to environmental changes interfering with hydrogen bonds

    • causes protein to unfold

  • denaturation is sometimes reversable

whatever causes more substrates to bind with more enzymes increases enzymatic reaction rate

• increasing substrate concentration and enzyme concentration increases reaction rates

  • increases likelihood of substrates and enzymes colliding and binding

  • has an upper limit

• rising temperatures increases movement speed of particles, increasing the likelihood of collisions between substrates and enzymes

  • can’t be too hot due to denaturation of enzymes

inhibitors: molecules that can bind to an enzyme and prevent catalysis of a reaction

• way that cells can control cell activity

• competitive inhibitor blocks the active site

  • binds to active site in place of the substrates

• allosteric/noncompetitive inhibitor binds to a place called the allosteric site, causing the enzyme’s shape to change