Enzymes

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze (increase the rates of) chemical reactions.In enzymatic reactions, the molecules at the beginning of the process, called substrates, are converted into different molecules, called products. Almost all chemical reactions in a biological cell need enzymes in order to occur at rates sufficient for life. Since enzymes are selective for their substrates and speed up only a few reactions from among many possibilities, the set of enzymes made in a cell determines which metabolic pathways occur in that cell.

Enzymes are more important than vitamins and minerals for general health. Without enzymes, vitamins and minerals are useless. Enzymes are catalysts for metabolic processes and digestion. A catalyst initiates a chemical process without being part of the resultant product.

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Like all catalysts, enzymes work by lowering the activation energy for a reaction, thus dramatically increasing the rate of the reaction. As a result, products are formed faster and reactions reach their equilibrium state more rapidly. Most enzyme reaction rates are millions of times faster than those of comparable un-catalyzed reactions. As with all catalysts, enzymes are not consumed by the reactions they catalyze, nor do they alter the equilibrium of these reactions. However, enzymes do differ from most other catalysts in that they are highly specific for their substrates. Many times enzymes are compared to a "lock and key" model. Specific enzymes are used for specific reactions and their active sites can only be accessed by certain substrates. Enzymes are known to catalyze about 4,000 biochemical reactions. A few RNA molecules called ribozymes also catalyze reactions, with an important example being some parts of the ribosome.Synthetic molecules called artificial enzymes also display enzyme-like catalysis.

Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules. Inhibitors are molecules that decrease enzyme activity; activators are molecules that increase activity. Many drugs and poisons are enzyme inhibitors. Activity is also affected by temperature, chemical environment (e.g., pH), and the concentration of substrate. For example, the higher the temperature usually the higher the reaction rate. Some enzymes are used commercially, for example, in the synthesis of antibiotics. In addition, some household products use enzymes to speed up biochemical reactions (e.g., enzymes in biological washing powders break down protein or fat stains on clothes; enzymes in meat tenderizers break down proteins into smaller molecules, making the meat easier to chew).

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze a reaction, or increase the rate of a reaction.



Enzymes could be considered the "working" part of the cell because an enzyme really deals with almost all functions that cells are responsible for. Enzymes main purpose is to allow cells to carry out chemical reactions as quickly as possible. Enzymes are made from amino acids making them part of the protein group, these are formed by hundreds to thousands of amino acids linking together in a very intricate pattern that allows them to carry out these rapid chemical reactions that then send messages to other parts of the body.