How Well Do You Know Enzymes?

• Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts, increasing the rate of reactions without being consumed in the process.

• Enzymes can increase reaction rates by a factor of 103 to 108 over uncatalyzed reactions.

• Enzymes are named using a short name for everyday use and a systematic name based on their class and subgroup.

• Enzymes are classified into six major classes based on their biochemical properties: oxidoreductases, transferases, hydrolases, lyases, isomerases, and ligases.

• Enzymes have an active site that contains amino acid side chains for substrate binding and catalysis, and its shape determines enzyme specificity.

• Enzyme-catalyzed reactions are highly efficient, with turnover numbers varying between 0.5 to 10000 per second.

• Enzymes exhibit chemical specificity based on group specificity, absolute specificity, and stereochemical/geometric specificity.

• Cofactors are non-protein substances required for enzyme activity, and the combination of the apoenzyme and cofactor forms the holoenzyme.

• Enzymes work by binding to substrates to form an enzyme-substrate complex, going through a transition state, forming an enzyme-product complex, and finally separating.