Factors influencing the rate of enzyme catalysed reactions - Essay Example

Role of enzyme: enzymes catalyze physiologic reactions by decreasing the activation energy level that the reactants (substrates) must reach for the reaction to occur. They cannot alter the equilibrium of a reaction but can only decrease the activation energy of the reaction thereby accelerating the reaction rate.Activation energy: it is the amount of energy that is required to raise all molecules in one mole of a compound (substrate) at a specified temperature to the transition state at the peak of the energy barrier.

Free energy of activation: it is the energy barrier that prevents chemical reactions. Reactants processing enough energy to overcome the energy barrier participate in product formation .The enzyme activity is determined by the rate of an enzyme catalyzed reaction under certain defined conditions2. Reaction rate/velocity (v): it is the rate of conversion of a substrate to products per min (mol/min). The reaction rate is proportional to the concentration of reacting molecules. A + B C + DIf concentration of A and B is doubled, the rate of reaction is also doubled.

At equilibrium, forward reaction and backward reaction are equal, so that K1 A + B C +D K2Forward reaction R1 = K1 [A] [B]Backward reaction R2 = K2 [C] [D]At equilibrium R1 = R2 OR K1 [A] [B] = K2 [C] [D] OR K1/K2 = [C] [D] / [A] [B] = Keq or Equilibrium constant. Each enzyme contains 2. Catalytic efficiency: enzymes are highly efficient catalysts and can catalyze million times faster than an uncatalyzed reaction .

it is capable of transforming 100 to 1000 substrate molecules into products each second. Role of enzyme: enzymes catalyze physiologic reactions by decreasing the activation energy level that the reactants (substrates) must reach for the reaction to occur. They cannot alter the equilibrium of a reaction but can only decrease the activation energy of the reaction thereby accelerating the reaction rate. Activation energy: it is the amount of energy that is required to raise all molecules in one mole of a compound (substrate) at a specified temperature to the transition state at the peak of the energy barrier.

Free energy of activation: it is the energy barrier that prevents chemical reactions. Reactants processing enough energy to overcome the energy barrier participate in product formation .The enzyme activity is determined by the rate of an enzyme catalyzed reaction under certain defined conditions2. 2. Substrate concentration: as substrate concentration is increased, the velocity is also correspondingly increased in initial phases but as the enzymes molecules get saturated and further increase in substrate concentration cannot make any effect in reaction velocity. 3.