The enzyme Lactase is a transmembrane protein found in the intestinal epithelial cells, or enterocytes.

Its function is the breaking down of lactose into two constituent sugars, namely glucose and galactose.
Said constituent sugars are used in ATP manufacturing and other cellular processes.
In terms of metabolism, the β-glycosidic bond in D-lactose is hydrolyzed to form D-galactose and D-
glucose wherein the overall reaction that lactase catalyzes is C 12 H 22 O 11 + H 2 O→
C 6 H 12 O6 +C 6 H 12 O6 + heat (Figure 1.).
According to the six-general classification by the International Commission on Enzymes (ICE),
lactase belongs to glycoside hydrolase. Specifically, lactase belongs to the β -galactosidase family of
glycoside hydrolase enzymes, which contain enzymes that hydrolyze molecules containing galactose
(Bank, 2017).
Pepsin is one of the principle enzymes involved in protein digestion as it breaks down proteins into
small amino acids and peptides so that it can be easily absorbed in the small intestines (Heda, Toro, &
Tombazzi, 2020).
Pepsin is placed under the category of proteolytic enzymes, which are enzymes that are involved in
the hydrolysis of proteins into peptides and amino acids by breaking them down into peptide bonds.
In other words, the specific reaction catalyzed by pepsin is the acid hydrolysis of the peptide bond
(Rulli, n.d.). The reaction mechanism can be seen in Figure 2.
The International Commission on Enzymes (ICE) classifies pepsin as a peptide hydrolase due to the
hydrolysis of protein into amino acid needing water to break the bonds of the protein structure.
The enzyme amylase is a digestive enzyme responsible for breaking down the bonds in starches,
polysaccharides, and complex carbohydrates into easier to absorb simple sugars. Digestive enzymes
are important because when food is not fully digested, it may come in contact with bacteria in the
distal small intestine and colon which may result in the byproducts being gases released to the
digestive tract (Oswald, 2018).
There are three categories of amylase: alpha, beta, and gamma. They differ in the way they attack the
bond of the starch molecule, however, amylase, as whole uses the reaction mechanism of hydrolysis
to break down starch into smaller carbohydrates like maltose. An example of this would be the
breaking down of α-amylase in Figure 3.
Amylase belongs to the glycoside hydrolase family (Janeček, Svensson, & MacGregor, 2013). Thus,
in the six categories of ICE, it is in the hydrolases, as it involves the hydrolysis of a substrate.
Figure 1. Reaction mechanism of Lactase

Figure 2. Reaction mechanism of Pepsin

Figure 3. Reaction mechanism of Amylase

References
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