Journal On How Enzymes Function?

Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up biochemical reactions in living organisms by forming a unique enzyme-substrate complex, lowering the energy required for a substrate to convert to a product. They are highly efficient machines at the molecular level and have been viewed as static entities in the past. This chapter covers the basic principles of enzymology, such as classification, structure, kinetics, and inhibition, and provides an overview of industrial applications.

Enzymes work by accelerating the rate of a chemical reaction by staggering amounts, up to 1020 times the rate of natural enzymes. They do not alter the equilibrium (thermodynamics) of a reaction because they do not. By 1960, the understanding of enzyme catalysis had advanced beyond the lock and key hypothesis of Emil Fisher, where the substrate (key) was presumed to fit exactly into the enzyme. Enzyme mimics or artificial enzymes have been actively pursued for decades and have heralded much interest as potentially viable alternatives to natural enzymes.

At the molecular level, enzymes catalyze biochemical reactions by accelerating the conversion of substrates into products in a buried pocket. They break down the catalytic event into multiple steps with standard free energies of activation that are much less than would be found. Enzymes are responsible for catalyzing reactions in a variety of biological processes in all living cells. They have evolved to bind reacting groups in the correct position for reaction with extraordinary accuracy, bringing a large loss of energy.

Enzymes are responsible for bringing about chemical reactions under very mild conditions that are essential to the existence of biological organisms. They can also be extracted from cells and broken down into multiple steps with standard free energies of activation that are much less than would be found.