Enzymes
May 1, 2013
Enzymes as Drug Targets Enzymes are defined as any of numerous proteins produced in living cells that accelerate or catalyze the metabolic processes of an organism. Enzymes are usually very selective in the molecules that they act upon, called substrates, often reacting with only a single substrate. The substrate binds to the enzyme at a location called the active site just before the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme takes place. Enzymes can speed up chemical reactions by up to a million times, but only function within a narrow temperature and pH range, outside of which they can lose their structure and become denatured. Enzymes are involved in such processes as the breaking down of the large protein, starch, and fat molecules in food into smaller molecules during digestion, the joining together of nucleotides into strands of DNA, and the addition of a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP. The names of enzymes usually end in the suffix -ase. Enzymes are "biological catalysts." "Biological" means the substance in question is produced or is derived from some living organism. "Catalyst" denotes a substance that has the ability to increase the rate of a chemical reaction, and is not changed or destroyed by the chemical reaction that it accelerates.
Generally speaking, catalysts are specific in nature as to the type of reaction they can catalyze. Enzymes, as a subclass of catalysts, are very specific in nature. Each enzyme can act to catalyze only very select chemical reactions and only with very select substances. An enzyme has been described as a "key" which can "unlock" complex compounds. An enzyme, as the key, must have a certain structure or multi-dimensional shape that matches a specific section of the "substrate" (a substrate is the compound or substance which undergoes the change). Once these two components come together, certain chemical bonds within the substrate molecule change much as a lock is released, and just like the key in
Enzymes as Drug Targets Enzymes are defined as any of numerous proteins produced in living cells that accelerate or catalyze the metabolic processes of an organism. Enzymes are usually very selective in the molecules that they act upon, called substrates, often reacting with only a single substrate. The substrate binds to the enzyme at a location called the active site just before the reaction catalyzed by the enzyme takes place. Enzymes can speed up chemical reactions by up to a million times, but only function within a narrow temperature and pH range, outside of which they can lose their structure and become denatured. Enzymes are involved in such processes as the breaking down of the large protein, starch, and fat molecules in food into smaller molecules during digestion, the joining together of nucleotides into strands of DNA, and the addition of a phosphate group to ADP to form ATP. The names of enzymes usually end in the suffix -ase. Enzymes are "biological catalysts." "Biological" means the substance in question is produced or is derived from some living organism. "Catalyst" denotes a substance that has the ability to increase the rate of a chemical reaction, and is not changed or destroyed by the chemical reaction that it accelerates.
Generally speaking, catalysts are specific in nature as to the type of reaction they can catalyze. Enzymes, as a subclass of catalysts, are very specific in nature. Each enzyme can act to catalyze only very select chemical reactions and only with very select substances. An enzyme has been described as a "key" which can "unlock" complex compounds. An enzyme, as the key, must have a certain structure or multi-dimensional shape that matches a specific section of the "substrate" (a substrate is the compound or substance which undergoes the change). Once these two components come together, certain chemical bonds within the substrate molecule change much as a lock is released, and just like the key in