ENZYMES

ENZYMES : CONTROLLING REACTIONS IN THE CELL

Understand how temperature changes can affect enzyme function, including changes to the shape of
the active site

Understand how enzyme function can be affected by changes in pH altering the active site

Investigate how enzyme activity can be affected by changes in temperature

1. Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts.

2. A catalyst is a substance which speeds up the rate of reaction in chemical reactions, without
being used up.
3. The enzyme is not changed by the reaction and can be used repeatedly.
4. Enzymes are crucial to living organisms as they speed up metabolic reactions which would take
too long to occur without them.

Enzyme action:

• All enzymes contain an active site, which is a sequence of amino acids with a specific shape. This
shape is complementary to the substrate.
• When the enzyme breaks the substrate down, the substrate enters the active site to form an
enzyme-substrate complex.
• The substrate is broken down and the product is released. The enzyme can then bind to another
substrate molecule.
• Each enzyme is complementary to only one type of substrate; hence it cannot break down other
substrates.
• For example, proteases break down proteins so that amino acids can be absorbed into the
blood.
• Proteases cannot, however, break down other molecules such as carbohydrates, which can only
be broken down by carbohydrase enzymes

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 1
ENZYMES

Factors affecting enzyme action:

1. pH –
a) Enzymes have an optimum pH that they work best
at.
b) As the pH moves away from this, the rate of
reaction decreases.
c) The change in pH causes the shape of the active
site to change.
d) This means that the substrate cannot fit in the
active site, hence no enzyme-substrate complexes
can form.
e) This means that the enzyme has become
denatured.

2. Temperature –
a) As the temperature increases up to the
enzyme’s optimum, the rate of reaction
increases.
b) This is because the molecules have more
kinetic energy, thus move faster.
Consequently, more successful collisions
occur, and more enzyme-substrate
complexes can form.
c) At very high temperatures above the
optimum, the enzymes become denatured
and the active site changes shape.
d) This decreases the rate of reaction as enzyme-substrate complexes cannot form

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 2
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 3
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 4
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 5
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 6
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 7
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 8
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 9
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 10
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 11
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 12
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 13
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 14
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 15
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 16
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 17
ENZYMES

Thushana Sathasivam (BSc Psychology (Hons) reading, Dip. H. E. Psych. & Counseling, Dip. Psych.
Counseling, Dip. Child & Adolescent Psych., Adv. Dip. Drug & Alcohol Addiction Counseling, Cert. CSD &
SRH, CGP, CCP, MITBCCT (UK). 18