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Words: | Submitted: Mon Aug 18 2003
... acts as catalysts in biochemical reactions. These reactions are too slow to sustain life in the absence of enzymes. Each enzyme can be twisted and folded into the secondary and tertiary structure held by hydrogen or disulphide bonds. The secondary and tertiary structure of the enzyme is very important as each enzyme has a specific active site, usually consists of 3 to 12 amino acids. The active site is where the substrates or the reactants bind to. So a slight deformed or denatured of the active site would cause the enzyme not able to function. Normally, for enzyme reactions, the enzyme and the substrate come together and form an enzyme-substrate complex, which is a short-lived intermediate. Then the enzyme-substrate complex is turned into enzyme-product complex, which again is a short-lived intermediate. Finally the product is separated from the enzyme and is released. However, there are a number of factors, ...
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