Question

Experiment I: Effect of Different Substrates on the Rate of Enzyme Reaction

Consider the structures of the other substrates tested. Suggest reasons why only one elicited a reaction with the enzyme. Think about the active site of the enzyme.

Answer 1

The primary function of enzymes is to enhance rates of reactions so that they are compatible with the needs of the organism. To understand how enzymes function, we need a kinetic description of their activity. For many enzymes, the rate of catalysis V0, which is defined as the number of moles of product formed per second, varies with the substrate concentration . The rate of catalysis rises linearly as substrate concentration increases and then begins to level off and approach a maximum at higher substrate concentrations. Before we can accurately interpret this graph, we need to understand how it is generated. Consider an enzyme that catalyzes the S to P by the following pathway: