Aga khan education service Pakistan

South region
Digital learning mode
Biology academic year 2020-21
3.5 Enzyme Inhibition
3.5.1 classify inhibitors into competitive and
non-competitive inhibitors

 An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that disrupts the normal

reaction pathway between an enzyme and a substrate
 Enzyme inhibitors can be either competitive or non-competitive
depending on their mechanism of action.

Samreen Arain Ch#3

Competitive Inhibitor:
 Competitive inhibition involves a molecule, other than the
substrate, binding to the enzyme’s active site
 The molecule (inhibitor) is structurally and chemically similar to
the substrate (hence able to bind to the active site)
 The competitive inhibitor blocks the active site and thus prevents
substrate binding
 As the inhibitor is in competition with the substrate, its effects
can be reduced by increasing substrate concentration

Samreen Arain Ch#3

Samreen Arain Ch#3
Noncompetitive Inhibitor

 Non-competitive inhibition involves a molecule binding to a site

other than the active site (an allosteric site)
 The binding of the inhibitor to the allosteric site causes a
conformational change to the enzyme’s active site.
 As a result of this change, the active site and substrate no longer
share specificity, meaning the substrate cannot bind.
 As the inhibitor is not in direct competition with the substrate,
increasing substrate levels cannot lessen the inhibitor’s effect

Samreen Arain Ch#3

Samreen Arain Ch#3
3.5.2 describe the significance of
inhibitors;
 Enzyme inhibitors can serve a variety of purposes, including in
medicine (to treat disease) .
 An example of a use for a competitive inhibitor is in the
treatment of influenza via the neuraminidase inhibitor, Relenza.
 An example of a use for a non-competitive inhibitor is in the use
of cyanide as a poison (prevents aerobic respiration)
 Antibiotics also act like enzyme inhibitor.

Samreen Arain Ch#3

3.5.3 explain feedback inhibition;
 In feedback inhibition, the product of a reaction inhibits an enzyme at an earlier
step in the metabolic pathway that produced it.
 The product binds to a regulatory site on the enzyme, which is distinct from the
active site that binds to the substrate, thereby slowing or shutting down its own
production.
 When the product binds to the regulatory site, it causes a conformational change
in the enzyme that prevents it from binding to the substrate and continuing to
catalyze the reaction.
 This prevents excessively high levels of the product from accumulating in the
cell. When its level drops low enough, the product no longer inhibits the enzyme,
and the reaction can proceed a

Samreen Arain Ch#3

Samreen Arain Ch#3
 Watch the video

Samreen Arain Ch#3