Catalyzes Ribozymes: Catalytically Perfect
Catalyzes Ribozymes: Catalytically Perfect
Catalyzes Ribozymes: Catalytically Perfect
Some RNA
molecules also have catalytic activity, and they are referred to as RNA enzymes or
ribozymes.
Enzymes are essential for life because most chemical reactions in living cells would
occur too slowly, or would lead to different products without enzymes.
Like all catalysts, enzymes work by providing an alternate pathway of lower energy
for a reaction. This speeds up the reaction, sometimes making it many millions of
times faster. Chemically, enzymes are like any catalyst and are not consumed in
chemical reactions nor do they alter the equilibrium of a reaction. However, enzymes
do differ from most other catalysts in showing much higher levels of specificity.
Enzyme activity can be affected by other molecules. Inhibitors are molecules that
decrease or abolish enzyme activity; while activators are molecules that increase
activity. Drugs and poisons are often enzyme inhibitors.
Beside the many enzymes that have biological roles, some enzymes are used
commercially. Many household products use enzymes to speed up chemical reactions
(e.g., enzymes in biological washing powders break down protein or fat stains on
clothes).
About 4,000 reactions are known to be catalyzed by enzymes.[1] Enzymes are named
according to the reaction they catalyze. Typically the suffix -ase is added to the name
of the substrate (e.g., lactase is the enzyme that catalyzes the cleavage of lactose) or
the type of reaction (e.g., DNA polymerase catalyzes the formation of DNA
polymers).
Ribbon diagram of the enzyme TIM. TIM is catalytically perfect, meaning its
conversion rate is limited, or nearly limited to its substrate diffusion rate.
The word enzyme comes from Greek: "in leaven". As early as the late 1700s and early
1800s, the digestion of meat by stomach secretions and the conversion of starch to
sugars by plant extracts and saliva were known. However, the mechanism by which
this occurred was unknown.[2]
In the 19th century, when studying the fermentation of sugar to alcohol by yeast,
Louis Pasteur came to the conclusion that this fermentation was catalyzed by a vital
force contained within the yeast cells called "ferments", which were thought to
function only within a living organisms. He wrote that "Alcoholic fermentation is an
act correlated with the life and organisation of the yeast cells, not with the death or
putrefaction of the cells."[3]
In 1878 German physiologist Wilhelm Kühne (1837-1900) coined the term "enzyme,"
meaning "in leaven," to describe this process. The word enzyme was used later to
refer to non-living substances such as pepsin, and the word ferment was used to refer
to chemical activity produced by living organisms.
In 1897, Eduard Buchner began to study the ability of yeast extracts to ferment sugar,
despite the absence of living yeast cells. In a series of experiments at the University of
Berlin he found that the sugar was fermented, even when there were no living yeast
cells in the mixture [4]. He named the enzyme that brought about the fermentation of
sucrose "zymase". [5].
It was not until 1926, however, that pepsin became the first enzyme to be obtained in
pure form by Northrop, Sumner and Stanley. Their successful purification and
crystallization of pepsin proved that enzymes were proteins and they were awarded
the 1946 Nobel prize for Chemistry [6].
As with any protein, each protein is actually produced as a long, linear chain of amino
acids, which folds in a particular fashion to produce a three-dimensional product with
a tertiary structure. Each amino acid sequence produces a unique structure, which can
have unique properties. Individual protein chains may sometimes group together to
form a protein complex. Most enzymes can be unfolded or inactivated by heating,
which destroys the three-dimensional structure of the protein.
Most enzymes are larger than the substrates they act on and only a very small portion
of the enzyme, around 10 amino acids, comes into contact with the substrate(s). This
region, where binding of the substrate(s) and then the reaction occurs, is known as the
active site. Some enzymes also contain sites that bind cofactors, which are needed for
catalysis.
Some enzymes have binding sites for small molecules, which are often direct or
indirect products or substrates of the reaction catalyzed. This binding can serve to
increase or decrease the enzyme's activity (depending on the molecule and enzyme),
providing a means for feedback regulation.
[edit]
Specificity
Enzymes are usually specific as to the reactions they catalyze and the substrates that
are involved in these reactions. Shape, charge complementarity, and
hydrophilic/hydrophobic characters of enzymes and substrates are responsible for this
specificity. Enzymes show impressive levels of stereospecificity, regioselectivity and
chemoselectivity.
[edit]
[edit]
In 1958 Daniel Koshland suggested a modification to the "lock and key" model.[9]
Enzymes are rather flexible structures. The active site of an enzyme can be modified
as the substrate interacts with the enzyme. The amino acids side chains which make
up the active site are moulded into a precise shape which enables the enzyme to
perform its catalytic function. In some cases the substrate molecule changes shape
slightly as it enters the active site. Unlike the "Lock and key" model, this model
explains enzyme specificity and the stabilisation of the transition state which occurs.
[edit]
Modifications
Many enzymes contain not only protein but require other additional modifications.
These modifications are made post-translationally; that is, after the polypeptide chain
has been synthesized. This usually involves chemical groups being added onto the
polypeptide chain, e.g., phosphorylation or glycosylation of the enzyme.
[edit]
Enzyme cofactors
Some enzymes do not need any additional components to exhibit full activity.
However, others require non-protein molecules to be bound for activity. Cofactors can
be either inorganic (e.g., metal ions and Iron-sulfur clusters) or organic compounds,
which are also known as coenzymes (e.g., flavin and heme). An example of an
enzyme that contains a cofactor is carbonic anhydrase, and is shown in the diagram
above with four zinc cofactors bound in its active sites.
Enzymes that require a cofactor, but do not have one bound are called apoenzymes.
An apoenzyme together with its cofactor(s) is called a holoenzyme (i.e., the active
form). Most cofactors are not covalently attached to an enzyme, but are tightly bound.
However, some cofactors known as prosthetic groups are covalently bound (e.g.,
thiamine pyrophosphate in the enzyme Pyruvate dehydrogenase).
[edit]
Allosteric modulation
[edit]
Thermodynamics
Diagram of a catalytic reaction, showing the energy niveau at each stage of the
reaction. The substrates usually need a large amount of energy to reach the transition
state, which then decays into the end product. The enzyme stabilizes the transition
state, reducing the energy needed to form this species and thus reducing the energy
required to form products.
As with all catalysts, all reactions catalyzed by enzymes must be "spontaneous"
(containing a net negative Gibbs free energy). In the presence of an enzyme, a
reaction runs in the same direction as it would without the enzyme, just more quickly.
However, the uncatalyzed, "spontaneous" reaction might lead to different products
than the catalyzed reaction. Furthermore, enzymes can couple two or more reactions,
so that a thermodynamically favorable reaction can be used to "drive" a
thermodynamically unfavorable one. For example, the cleavage of the high-energy
compound ATP is often used to drive other, energetically unfavorable chemical
reactions.
Enzymes catalyze the forward and backward reactions equally. They do not alter the
equilibrium itself, but only the speed at which it is reached. For example, carbonic
anhydrase catalyzes its reaction in either direction, depending on the concentration of
its reactants.
Kinetics
Main article: Enzyme kinetics
Enzyme kinetics is the investigation of how enzymes bind substrates and turn them
into products. In 1913, Leonor Michaelis and Maud Menten proposed a quantitative
theory of enzyme kinetics, which is referred to as Michaelis-Menten kinetics.[10] Their
work was further developed by G. E. Briggs and J. B. S. Haldane, who derived
numerous kinetic equations that are still widely used today[11].
The major contribution of Michaelis and Menten was to divide enzyme reactions into
two stages. In the first, the substrate binds reversibly to the enzyme, forming the
enzyme-substrate complex. This is sometimes called the Michaelis-Menten complex
in their honour. The enzyme then catalyzes the chemical step in the reaction and
releases the product.
Enzymes can catalyze up to several million reactions per second. To find the
maximum speed of an enzymatic reaction, the substrate concentration is increased
until a constant rate of product formation is seen. This saturation happens because, as
substrate concentration increases, more and more of the free enzyme is converted into
the substrate-bound ES form. At the maximum velocity (Vmax) of the enzyme, all
enzyme active sites are saturated with substrate, and the amount of ES complex is the
same as the amount of enzyme.
However, Vmax is only one kinetic constant of enzymes. The amount of substrate
needed to achieve a given rate of reaction is also of interest. This can be expressed by
the Michaelis-Menten constant (Km), which is the substrate concentration required for
an enzyme to reach one-half its maximum velocity. Each enzyme has a characteristic
Km for a given substrate and this can show how tight the binding of the substrate is to
the enzyme.
The efficiency of an enzyme can be expressed in terms of kcat/Km. This is also called
the specificity constant and incorporates the rate constants for all steps in the reaction.
Because the specificity constant reflects both affinity and catalytic ability, it is useful
for comparing different enzymes against each other, or the same enzyme with
different substrates. The theoretical maximum for the specificity constant is called the
diffusion limit and is about 108 to 109 (M-1 s-1). At this point, every collision of the
enzyme with its substrate will result in catalysis and the rate of product formation is
not limited by the reaction rate but by the diffusion rate. Enzymes with this property
are called catalytically perfect or kinetically perfect. Example of such enzymes are
triose-phosphate isomerase, carbonic anhydrase, acetylcholinesterase, catalase,
fumarase, ß-lactamase, and superoxide dismutase.
Some enzymes operate with kinetics which are faster than diffusion rates, which
would seem to be impossible. Several mechanisms have been invoked to explain this
phenomenon. Some proteins are believed to accelerate catalysis by drawing their
substrate in and pre-orienting them by using dipolar electric fields. Other models
invoke a quantum-mechanical tunneling explanation whereby a proton or an electron
can tunnel through activation barriers, although for protons tunneling remains
somewhat controversial. [12][13]
[edit]
Coenzymes
Coenzymes are small molecules that transport chemical groups from one enzyme to
another. The chemical groups carried can be as simple as the hydride ion (H+ + 2e-)
carried by NAD or the larger acetyl group carried by coenzyme A. Since coenzymes
are chemically changed as a consequence of enzyme action, it is often useful to
consider coenzymes to be a special class of substrates, or second substrates, which are
common to many different enzymes.
[edit]
Inhibition
[edit]
Competitive inhibition
In competitive inhibition, the inhibitor binds to the substrate binding site as shown
(right top), thus preventing substrate from binding. Often competitive inhibitors
strongly resemble the real substrate of the enzyme. For example, malonate is a
competitive inhibitor of the enzyme succinate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the
oxidation of succinate to fumarate.
Non-competitive inhibition
Non-competitive inhibitors never bind to the active site, but to other parts of the
enzyme that can be far away from the substrate binding site, (right, bottom).
Consequently, since there is no competition between the substrate and inhibitor for the
enzyme, the extent of inhibition depends only on the inhibitor concentration and will
not be affected by the substrate concentration.
Mixed inhibition
Mixed inhibitors can bind to both the enzyme and the enzyme-substrate complex. It
has the properties of both competitive and uncompetitive inhibition.
The types of enzyme inhibitor are discussed in more detail in the enzyme inhibition
page.
[edit]
Inhibitors are often used as drugs, but they can also act as poisons. However, the
difference between a drug and a poison is usually only a matter of amount, since most
drugs are toxic at some level, as Paracelsus wrote "The dose makes the poison."
Equally, antibiotics and other anti-infective drugs are just specific poisons that can kill
a pathogen but not its host.
An example of an inhibitor being used as a drug is aspirin, which inhibits the COX-1
and COX-2 enzymes that produce the inflammation messenger prostaglandin, thus
suppressing pain and inflammation. The poison cyanide is an irreversible enzyme
inhibitor that combines with the copper prosthetic groups of the enzyme cytochrome c
oxidase and blocks cellular respiration.
[edit]
Metabolic pathways
Several enzymes can work together in a specific order, creating metabolic pathways.
In a metabolic pathway, one enzyme takes the product of another enzyme as a
substrate. After the catalytic reaction, the product is then passed on to another
enzyme.
[edit]
There are three main ways that enzyme activity is controlled in the cell
1. Enzymes can be compartmentalised, with different metabolic pathways
occurring in different cellular compartments. For example, fatty acids are
synthesised by one set of enzymes in the cytosol, endoplasmic reticulum and
golgi and used by a different set of enzymes as a source of energy in the
mitochondrion, through β-oxidation[14]
2. Enzymes can be regulated by inhibitors and activators. For example, the end
product(s) of a metabolic pathway are often inhibitors for one of the first
enzymes of the pathway (usually the first irreversible step, called committed
step), thus regulating the amount of end product made by the pathways. Such a
regulatory mechanism is called a negative feedback mechanism, because the
amount of the end product produced is regulated by its own concentration.
Negative feedback mechanism can effectively adjust the rate of synthesis of
intermediate metabolites according to the demands of the cells. This helps
with effective allocations of materials and energy economy, and it prevents the
excess manufacture of end products. Like other homeostatic devices, the
control of enzymatic action helps to maintain a stable internal environment in
living organisms.
3. Enzymes can be regulated through post-translational modification. For
example, in the response to insulin, the phosphorylation of multiple enzymes,
including glycogen synthase helps control the synthesis or degradation of
glycogen and allows the cell to respond to changes in blood sugar[15].
[edit]
Errors in metabolism
Since the tight control of enzyme activity is essential for homeostasis, any
malfunction (mutation, overproduction, underproduction or deletion) of a single
critical enzyme can lead to disease. For example, the most common type of
phenylketonuria is caused by a single amino acid mutation in the enzyme
phenylalanine hydroxylase, which catalyzes the first step in the degradation of
phenylalanine. The resulting build-up of phenylalanine and related products can lead
to mental retardation if the disease is untreated [16].
[edit]
Enzyme-naming conventions
By common convention, an enzyme's name consists of a description of what it does,
with the word ending in -ase. Examples are alcohol dehydrogenase and DNA
polymerase. Kinases are enzymes that transfer phosphate groups. This results in
different enzymes with the same function having the same basic name; they are
therefore distinguished by other characteristics, such as their optimal pH (alkaline
phosphatase) or their location (membrane ATPase). Furthermore, the reversibility of
chemical reactions means that the normal physiological direction of an enzyme's
function may not be observed under laboratory conditions. This can result in the same
enzyme being identified with two different names: one coming from the laboratory
identification as described above and the other from its behavior in the cell. For
instance the enzyme formally known as xylitol:NAD+ 2-oxidoreductase (D-xylulose-
forming) is more commonly referred to in the cellular physiological sense as D-
xylulose reductase, since the function of the enzyme in the cell is actually the reverse
of what is often seen under laboratory conditions.
The first number broadly classifies the enzyme based on its mechanism:
Industrial Applications
Degrade starch
to a lower
Paper viscosity
Amylases
industry product needed
for sizing and
coating paper
External links
[edit]
Further reading
Etymology and history
New Beer in an
Old Bottle:
Eduard Buchner
and the Growth
of Biochemical
Knowledge,
edited by Athel
Cornish-Bowden
and published by
Universitat de
València (1997):
ISBN 84-370-
3328-4, A history
of early
enzymology.
Williams, Henry
Smith, 1863-
1943. A History
of Science: in
Five Volumes.
Volume IV:
Modern
Development of
the Chemical and
Biological
Sciences, A
textbook from the
19th century.
PDB Molecule of
the Month, The
"Molecule of the
Month", presents
short accounts on
selected
molecules from
the Protein Data
Bank.
Structure/Functio
n of Enzymes,
Web tutorial on
enzyme structure.
Page, M. I., and Williams, A. (Eds.), 1987. Enzyme Mechanisms. Royal Society of
Chemistry.
Thermodynamics
Reactions and
Enzymes Chapter
10 of On-Line
Biology Book at
Estrella Mountain
Community
College.
Irwin H. Segel, Enzyme Kinetics : Behavior and Analysis of Rapid Equilibrium and
Steady-State Enzyme Systems. Wiley-Interscience; New Ed edition (1993), ISBN
0471303097.
Function and control of enzymes in the cell
Nutritional and
Metabolic
Diseases
Enzyme-naming conventions
Enzyme
Nomenclature,
Recommendation
s for enzyme
names from the
Nomenclature
Committee of the
International
Union of
Biochemistry and
Molecular
Biology.
Industrial Applications
History of
industrial
enzymes, Article
about the history
of industrial
enzymes, from
the late 1900's to
the present times.
[edit]
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summary