BIOLOGY

CONCEPTS & CONNECTIONS

Fourth Edition
Neil A. Campbell Jane B. Reece Lawrence G. Mitchell Martha R. Taylor

CHAPTER 5
The Working Cell
Modules 5.5 5.9
From PowerPoint Lectures for Biology: Concepts & Connections
Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

HOW ENZYMES WORK

5.5 Enzymes speed up the cells chemical reactions
by lowering energy barriers
For a chemical reaction to begin, reactants must
absorb some energy
This energy is called the energy of activation
(EA)
This represents the energy barrier that prevents
molecules from breaking down spontaneously

Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 A protein catalyst called an enzyme can

decrease the energy barrier

Enzyme

EA
barrier

Reactants

Products

Figure 5.5A
Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

EA
without

Reactants

EA
with
enzyme

enzyme
Net
change
in energy

Products

Figure 5.5B
Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

5.6 A specific enzyme catalyzes each cellular

reaction
Enzymes are selective
This selectivity determines which chemical
reactions occur in a cell

Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

 How an
enzyme
works

Enzyme
(sucrase)

Glucose

Fructose

Active
site

Substrate
(sucrose)

1
Enzyme available
with empty active
site

Products are
released

3
Substrate is
converted to
products
Figure 5.6

2
Substrate
binds to
enzyme with
induced fit

The enzyme
is unchanged and can repeat the process
Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

5.7 The cellular environment affects enzyme

activity
Enzyme activity is influenced by
temperature
salt concentration
pH

Some enzymes require nonprotein cofactors

Some cofactors are organic molecules called
coenzymes
Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

5.8 Enzyme inhibitors block enzyme action

Inhibitors interfere with enzymes
A competitive
inhibitor takes
the place of a
substrate in the
active site
A noncompetitive
inhibitor alters an
enzymes function
by changing its shape

Substrate

Active
site

Enzyme

NORMAL BINDING OF SUBSTRATE

Competitive
inhibitor

Noncompetitive
inhibitor

ENZYME INHIBITION
Figure 5.8

Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings

5.9 Connection: Some pesticides and antibiotics

inhibit enzymes
Certain pesticides are toxic to insects because
they inhibit key enzymes in the nervous system
Many antibiotics inhibit enzymes that are
essential to the survival of disease-causing
bacteria
Penicillin inhibits an enzyme that bacteria use in
making cell walls

Copyright 2003 Pearson Education, Inc. publishing as Benjamin Cummings