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Enzymes Investigation
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| Submitted: Thu Jul 11 2002
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Introduction Enzymes are proteins that speed up the rate of reaction at physiological temperatures without being used up or changed themselves. The nature of neither the end product nor the reaction equilibria is changed by the enzyme, just the rate at which it is reached. They are globular proteins, composed of polymers of amino acids. Enzymes act by becoming part of the reaction, creating a new pathway with a lower activation energy (EA), than the than the energy needed to carry out the original reaction, as seen in the graph to the left (Campbell, 1996). The active site of an enzyme is actually a very small proportion of the total volume. The substrate binds to the active site, forming an enzyme-substrate complex. The substrate is held in place by weak interactions such as hydrogen bonds and ionic bonds. The substrate is converted to the product and then leaves the active site, freeing...
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