Enzymes

Enzymes are often called biological catalysts and they are essential in maintaining the reactions that
keep plants and animals alive.

1. The structure of an enzyme is essential to its function in both intracellular and extracellular
environments.

a)
i) What is meant by the term catalyst? (2 marks)

ii) What is meant by the activation energy of an enzyme and how does the presence of an enzyme affect
it (2 marks)

iii) Enzymes are globular proteins, what does this mean in terms of quaternary structure? (2 marks)

b) The diagram below is a simple drawing of the enzyme maltase.

Maltase

i) Why is the tertiary structure of maltase essential to its function? (3 marks)

ii) Use the image of the enzyme maltase to draw a sketch of the substrate that maltase breaks down and
write the name of the molecule. (2 marks)

iii) How does the maltase enzyme interact with the molecule identified in 1.b.ii? (4 marks)

c) Early scientists who studied enzyme structure devised the ‘lock and key’ model of enzyme action,
however scientists in the mid-20th Century used new evidence to devise the ‘induced fit’ model of
enzyme action.

i) What is the ‘lock and key’ model of enzyme action? (2 marks)

ii) Why is the ‘induced fit’ model considered to be a better theory than the ‘lock and key’ model? (3
marks)

2.
Enzymes are biological molecules and so can be affected by altered external conditions.

a) The two graphs below show how enzyme activity is altered by a change in an individual factor.

i) What is meant by the term denature? (2 marks)

3.

ii) Using the graphs, identify what factor is affecting the rate of reaction and explain how it creates the
shape of the graph. (6 marks)

b) Concentration of both substances and enzymes also has an effect on the rate of reaction. Worldwide
many adults are lactose intolerant which means that their bodies cannot produce lactose as part of the
digestive process.

i) Lactose is broken down into what monomers? (2 marks)

ii) What is this type of reaction called? (1 mark)

c) People who suffer from lactose intolerance need to drink milk containing pre-digested Lactose; this is
done by adding the products directly to the milk.

i) How does adding more lactose enzyme increase the rate of reaction (3 marks)

ii) Draw a rough sketch of a graph, with labels, to show how the rate of reaction changes with an
increase in enzyme concentration. (2 marks)

The rate of enzyme activity can be interfered with or prevented completely through the interaction of
inhibitors.

a) i) What are the two different types of enzyme inhibitors? (2 marks)

ii) Which of the enzyme inhibitors in the answer to 3.a.i. would be more likely to have temporary effects
and why? (3 marks)
 b) Cyanide is a poison that kills those who are exposed to it. Cyanide is a non-competitive inhibitor that
acts by interfering with the Cytochrome C Oxidase in mitochondria of cells in the final stages of cellular
respiration.

i) Explain how exposure to cyanide is lethal. (4 marks)

1. a. A substrance that speed up a reaction by lowering the activation energy without being used up in the
reaction
ii. is the minimum energy needed to start a reaction. the enzymes lower the activation energy
iii. Multiple polypeptide chains coil together to form a compact sturcture.
b. i. Active site is only complementary to the subctrate. A change to shape of the active site will mean that
the subtrate will not fit to the active site hence the enzyme cannot catalyse the reaction. The tertiary structure
deteremines the specific shape of the active site.

b. ii. Attached in email

c. i. This means the substrate fits into the enzyme's active site just like a lock and a key. So the shape are
complementary
ii. This means the enzyme's active site can change to what the substrate is. So the encyme substrate
complex chnages. This tigthens the bonds in the active site.

2.a.i Denaturing is destroying the enzyme's active site, in shape. So it does not function any longer. It can
happen due to change in conditions such as temperature or pH.

ii. In graph A it shows the change in temperature. As the temperature increases the rate of reaction is
likely to increase. However when the wtemperature gets too high, the enzyme will stop working
immediately as it is denatured. The slope will go down, as it shows.

Graph B is the change in pH. Each enzyme has an optimum pH. When the pH increases the rate of
reaction will increase however it will decrease if the pH gets too high and soon be denatured. The slope
at the end won't be instant like the instant fall in temperature.

b. ii. galactose and glucose

ii. hydrolysis

c.i. The more enzymes the higher te rate of reaction. When more enzymes are present, the more likely
a succesful collision will occur and form an enzyme substrate complex

ii. attached in email

3. a. i. competitive and non competitive

ii. Competitive inhibitor will have temporary effects. The shape is similar to the substrate. It occupies the active
site and prevents the substrate from binding. The reaction cannot strat unless the inhibitor moves.

b. i. Cyanide prevents the cells of the body from using oxygen. It will bind to a seperate site on the cytochrome
C oxidase enzyme. This creates irreversible changes to the shape of the active site. Hence the enzyme is
denatured and can no longer function. Then cells will not be able to respire as no energy is made.