231 Lecture 1

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Introduction to Enzymes
Bioc. 231
1
What are Enzymes?
• Enzymes are specific biological proteins that
catalyze biochemical reactions without
altering the equilibrium point of the reaction
or being consumed or changed in
composition. The other substances in the
reaction are converted to products.
2
What are Enzymes?
• Enzymes catalyze virtually all of the physiological
reactions required for life.
• Many proteins are enzymes.
• Almost all enzymes are proteins (except Ribozymes).
3
What are Enzymes?
Biological Catalysts
Protein Catalysts RNA Catalysts

(Enzymes) (Ribozymes)
• Ribozyme (from ribonucleic acid enzyme, also called

RNA enzyme or catalytic RNA) is an RNA molecule that
catalyzes a chemical reaction.
4
What are Enzymes?
• Enzymes are found in all body tissues.
• Enzymes frequently appear in the serum
following cellular injury or, sometimes, in small
amounts, from degraded cells.
• Certain enzymes, such as those that facilitate
coagulation, are specific to plasma and,
therefore, are present in significant
concentrations in plasma.
• Plasma or serum enzyme levels are often useful
in the diagnosis of particular diseases or
physiological abnormalities.
5
What are Enzymes?
• Enzymes catalyze many specific physiological reactions,
such as:
o Hydration of CO2 (H2O + CO2 Carbonic anhydrase H+ + HCO3-).
o Energy use.
o Nerve conducting.
o Muscle contraction.
o Nutrient degradation.
6
Historical Perspective
§ 18th century:
• (1780) Lazzaro Spallanzani: digestion

of food is a chemical process, not
primarily dependent on grinding.
7
§ 19th century: digestion and other physiological processes were attributed to
a variety of substances then known as ferments, in reference to their
importance in alcoholic fermentation.
• (1877) Wilhelm Kühne: The name enzyme (literally, ‘in
yeast’). There is something in yeast, as opposed to the
yeast itself, that catalyzes the reaction of fermentation.
• (1894) Emil Fischer : “lock and key” hypothesis.

The specificity of an enzyme (the lock) for its substrate (the
key) arises from their geometrically complementary
shapes.
• (1897) Eduard Buchner: a cell-free extract of yeast could

catalyze fermentation.
8
§ 20th century:
• (1926) James Sumner: crystallized the first enzyme jack
bean urease, which catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to
ammonia (NH3) and carbon dioxide (CO2), demonstrated
that these crystals consist of proteins.
• (1963): the first amino acid sequence of an enzyme, bovin pancreatic

ribonuclease A.
• (1965): the first X-ray structure of enzyme, hen egg white lysozome.
9
Enzyme Nomenclature
§ Enzymes are usually named according to the
reaction they carry out.
§ Each enzyme is assigned two names:
a. The first its short, recommended name,
convenient for everyday use.
b. The second is the more complete systemic
name, which is used when an enzyme must
be identified without ambiguity.
10
Enzyme Nomenclature
a. Recommended name:
• Typically, to generate the name of an enzyme, the
suffix “-ase” is added to:
ü the name of its substrate.
(e.g., lactose lactase Galactose + Glucose
ü the type of reaction (e.g., DNA polymerase forms
DNA polymers).
• Note: some enzymes retain their original trivial
names, which gives no hint of the assiociated
enzymatic reaction (e.g. trypsin, pepsin…).
11
Enzyme Nomenclature
b. Systematic name:
• The International Union of Biochemistry and
Molecular Biology (IUBMB) developed a system
of nomenclature in which enzymes are divided
into six major classes, each with numerous
subgroups.
• The suffix –ase is attached to a fairly complete
description of the chemical reaction catalyzed.
• The IUBMB names are unambiguous and
informative, but are sometimes too cumbersome
to be of general use.
12
Enzyme Nomenclature
b. Systematic name:
13
How Enzymes Work?
• All chemical reactions
require Activation
Energy to break
chemical bonds and
begin the reaction.
• The need for activation
energy acts as a barrier
to the chemical reaction
occurring and/or to the
speed at which it
occurs. Biology. 6th ed. Eldra Solomon, Linda Berg, Diana
W. Martin. 2002. Thomson.
14
How Enzymes Work?
• Enzymes lower the
barriers that normally
prevent chemical
reactions from occurring
(or slow them down) by
decreasing the required
activation energy.
• Enzymes act as catalysts
compounds that increase
the rate of chemical
reactions.
15
How Enzymes Work?
• The catalytic power of an
enzyme (the rate of the
catalyzed reaction
divided by the rate of the
uncatalyzed reaction) is
usually in the range of
106 to 1014.
16
The Enzyme-Catalyzed Reaction
§ Enzyme-catalyzed reactions have 3 basic steps:
1. Binding of substrate (a reactant): E + S ES (the enzyme –
substrate complex).
2. Conversion of bound substrate to bound product: ES EP
3. Release of product: EP E+P
17
Summery
E+S ES EP
Enzymes catalyze reactions by lowering the energy of activation.
18
References
• Biochemistry (Lippincott´s Illustrated Reviews series) by Champe P, Harvey
R, and Ferrier D.
• Clinical Chemistry by Bishop M, Fody E and Schoeff L.
• Basic Medical Biochemistry by Lieberman M and Marks A.
• Cornish-Bowden A (2011). History of enzymes chemistry. In: eLS. John
Wiley & Sons, Ltd: Chichester.
19
What are Enzymes?
20

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‫ﺑﺴﻢ ﷲ اﻟﺮﺣﻤﻦ اﻟﺮﺣﯿﻢ‬

Protein Catalysts RNA Catalysts

• Ribozyme (from ribonucleic acid enzyme, also called

• (1780) Lazzaro Spallanzani: digestion

• (1894) Emil Fischer : “lock and key” hypothesis.

• (1897) Eduard Buchner: a cell-free extract of yeast could

• (1963): the first amino acid sequence of an enzyme, bovin pancreatic

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