Enzymes

Life depends on a well-orchestrated series of chemical reactions. Many of these

reactions, however, proceed too slowly on their own to sustain life. Hence nature has
designed catalysts, which we now refer to as enzymes, to greatly accelerate the rates of
these chemical reactions. The catalytic power of enzymes facilitates life processes in
essentially all life-forms from viruses to man. Many enzymes retain their catalytic
potential after extraction from the living organism, and it did not tae long for manind to
recognize and exploit the catalytic power of enzyme for commercial purposes. !n fact, the
earliest nown references to enzymes are from ancient texts dealing with the
manufacture of cheeses, "reads, and alcoholic "everages, and for the tenderizing of
meats.
Today enzymes continue to play ey roles in many food and "everage manufacturing
processes and are ingredients in numerous consumer products, such as laundry
detergents #which dissolve protein-"ased stains with the help of proteolytic enzymes$.
Enzymes are also of fundamental interest in the health sciences, since many disease
processes can "e lined to the a"errant activities of one or a few enzymes. Hence, much
of modern pharmaceutical research is "ased on the search for potent and speci%c
inhi"itors of these enzymes. The study of enzymes and the action of enzymes has thus
fascinated scientists since the dawn of history, not only to satisfy erudite interest "ut also
"ecause of the utility of such nowledge for many practical needs of society.
The oldest nown reference to the commercial use of enzymes comes from a description
of wine maing in the &odex of Hammura"i #ancient 'a"ylon, circa ()** '.&.$. The use of
microorganisms as enzyme sources for fermentation was widespread among ancient
people. +eferences to these processes can "e found in writings not only from 'a"ylon "ut
also from the early civilizations of +ome, ,reece, Egypt, &hina, !ndia. -ncient texts also
contain a num"er of references to the related process of vinegar production, which is
"ased on the enzymatic conversion of alcohol to acetic acid. .inegar, it appears, was a
common staple of ancient life, "eing used not only for food storage and preparation "ut
also for medicinal purposes. /airy products were another important food source in
ancient societies. 'ecause in those days fresh mil could not "e stored for any
reasona"le length of time, the conversion of mil to cheese "ecame a vital part of food
production, maing it possi"le for the farmer to "ring his product to distant marets in an
accepta"le form. &heese is prepared "y curdling mil via the action of any of a num"er of
enzymes. The su"stances most commonly used for this purpose in ancient times were
%cin, o"tained as an extract from %g trees, and rennin, as rennet, an extract of the lining
of the fourth stomach of a multiple-stomach animal, such as a cow. -nother food staple
throughout the ages is "read. The leavening of "read "y yeast, which results from the
enzymatic production of car"on dioxide, was well nown and widely used in ancient
times. Moreover enzymes are still in use in their traditional roles in food and "everage
manufacturing. !n modern times, the role of enzymes in consumer products and in
chemical manufacturing has expanded greatly. Enzymes are used today in such varied
applications as stereospeci%c chemical synthesis, laundry detergents, and cleaning its
for contact lenses.
- living system controls its activity through enzymes. -n enzyme is a protein molecule
that is a "iological catalyst with three characteristics. 0irst, the "asic function of an
enzyme is to increase the rate of a reaction. Most cellular reactions occur a"out a million
times faster than they would in the a"sence of an enzyme. 1econd, most enzymes act
speci%cally with only one reactant #called a su"strate$ to produce products. The third and
most remara"le characteristic is that enzymes are regulated from a state of low activity
to high activity and vice versa. ,radually, you will appreciate that the individuality of a
living cell is due in large part to the uni2ue set of some 3,*** enzymes that it is
genetically programmed to produce. !f even one enzyme is missing or defective, the
results can "e disastrous.
Much of the information a"out enzymes has "een made possi"le "ecause they can "e
isolated from cells and made to wor in a test tu"e environment. Extensive wor has also
"een done with 4-+ay di5raction techni2ues to elucidate the three-dimensional structure
of some enzymes.
The activity of an enzyme depends, at the minimum, on a speci%c protein chain. !n many
cases, the enzyme consists of the protein and a com"ination of one or more parts called
cofactors. This enzyme complex is usually simply referred to simply as the enzyme.
-poenzyme6 The polypeptide or protein part of the enzyme is called the apoenzyme and
may "e inactive in its original synthesized structure. The inactive form of the apoenzyme
is nown as a proenzyme or zymogen. The proenzyme may contain several extra amino
acids in the protein which are removed, and allows the %nal speci%c tertiary structure to
"e formed "efore it is activated as an apoenzyme.
&ofactors6 - cofactor is a non-protein su"stance which may "e organic, and called a
coenzyme.
-nother type of cofactor is an inorganic metal ion called a metal ion activator. The
inorganic metal ions may "e "onded through coordinate covalent "onds. The ma7or
reason for the nutritional re2uirement for minerals is to supply such metal ions as 8n
9(
,
Mg
9(
, Mn
9(
, 0e
9(
, &u
9(
, :
9)
, and ;a
9)
for use in enzymes as cofactors.
0inal Enzyme6 The type of association "etween the cofactor and the apoenzymes varies.
!n some cases, the "onds are rather loose and "oth come together only during the course
of a reaction. !n other cases, they are %rmly "ound together "y covalent "onds. The
activating role of a cofactor is to either6 activate the protein "y changing its geometric
shape, or "y actually participating in the overall reaction.
The overall enzyme contains a speci%c geometric shape called the active site where the
reaction taes place. The molecule acted upon is called the su"strate.
Enzymes are commonly named "y adding a su<x =-ase= to the root name of the
su"strate molecule it is acting upon. 0or example, lipase catalyzes the hydrolysis of a
lipid triglyceride. 1ucrase catalyzes the hydrolysis of sucrose into glucose and fructose.
- few enzymes discovered "efore this naming system was devised are nown "y
common names. Examples are pepsin, trypsin, and chymotrypsin which catalyzes the
hydrolysis of proteins.
The latest systematic nomenclature system nown as the !nternational Enzyme
&ommission #!E&$ system is "ased upon the type of reaction catalyzed.
#Taen from6 Enzymes6 - >ractical !ntroduction to 1tructure, Mechanism and /ata
-nalysis "y +o"ert -. &opeland and .irtual &hem"oo "y &harles E. ?phardt$