Question

Discussion Topic: Teaching Chemistry for Understanding

Re-explain the following topic as if you were teaching it to others in a way they can understand it.

Explain Enzyme Structure and Function in a minimum of 200 words.

Answer 1

Enzymes are proteins in nature and the proteins are polymer of amino acids. Enzymes are formed by condensation reactions in which a peptide bond is formed between two amino acids. This gives rise to the primary structure of proteins. If the enzyme has 2 or more than 2 subunits it is called allosteric enzyme The primary structure arranges itself in a different fashion to give rise to higher-order secondary and tertiary structures creating a substrate-binding site known as the active site. an active site is complementary to the substrate and functional groups present in the active site interact with the substrate. Enzymes are very specific for their substrate and the specificity comes from the different conformation of the active site. An enzyme is a biocatalyst that catalyzes the chemical reaction in a living system. Enzyme enhances the rate of reaction by decreasing the free energy barrier between the ground state and transition state (the transitory state between substrate and product). This free energy barrier is known as activation energy. Enzymes remain unaltered after catalyzing the reaction and do not influence the equilibrium and overall free energy change of the reaction. Enzyme decreases activation energy by generating binding energy. Binding energy is released when the substrate makes multiple non-covalent interactions with the functional group present in the active site of an enzyme.