Catalysts are the substances that speed up a chemical reaction but remain unchanged at the end of the reaction. Do you know what speeds up metabolic reactions inside our body? In this lesson we will be learning about the substance that speeds up a cell's metabolism. Enzymes are proteins that function as biological catalyst. Metabolic reactions are the reactions which take place inside a human cell, transporting the metabolites according to the requirement.
Now, how do these enzymes work?
Explanation:
Chemical reactions in our body need to be done quickly. They can not be delayed. Enzymes are proteins in nature which are assigned to speed up a reaction without getting used up. They bind with the substance to break it down into simpler substances. There are specific enzymes for specific substances which are called substrate, for example an enzyme sucrase is used for sucrose ( in this case sucrose is the substance ) . Each enzyme has an active site (A particular part of the enzyme which binds with the substrate making enzymes substrate complex). Enzyme for one substance will be used for the specific substance, it will not be used for ay other substance. This is called the lock and key theory.
Yet, there are few conditions required for the functioning of enzymes. There is a specific (optimum) temperature and pH at which enzymes works best. They aren't the same for every organism. Optimum temperature for the human body is 37 degree Celsius (range is 25-37. degree Celsius). At higher temperatures, the enzymes get denatured (changes their shape) and the active site of the enzymes is no more able to bind with the substrate ( substrate is the substance with which specific enzyme's active site combine) . This is why the doctor recommends medicines to the fever patient because fever denatures their enzymes. Optimum pH for humans is 7, neutral. Below 7 is acidic and above is alkaline. At higher pH, enzymes again get denatured. But there are some enzymes which work best in either acidic or alkaline environments such as pepsin in the stomach works best at the pH 2.
Hence, enzymes are important part of our body.
*all pictures are taken from google*
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