

The rate of reaction will be affected, or the reaction will stop. The enzyme, including its active site, will change shape and the substrate will no longer fit. High temperatures will break these forces.

This structure is held together by weak forces between the amino acid molecules in the chain. This chain is not straight – it twists and folds as different amino acids in the chain are attracted to, or repel each other.Įach enzyme is made from proteins made of these twisting and folding amino acids, and therefore the enzyme has a unique shape. Proteins are chains of amino acids joined end to end. Įnzymes therefore work best at a particular temperature. Higher temperatures disrupt the shape of the active site, which will reduce its activity, or prevent it from working. This is not true of the enzymes in all organisms. The human body is maintained at 37☌ as this is the temperature at which the enzymes in our body work best. TemperatureĪt low temperatures, the number of successful collisions between the enzyme and substrate is reduced because their molecular movement decreases. This theory for the way in which enzymes work is called the lock and key theory. One enzyme is therefore specific to one substrate's chemical reaction, or type of chemical reaction. This is essential to the enzyme being able to work. It is a perfect match to the shape of the substrate molecule, or molecules. In an organism, the active site of each enzyme is a different shape. Once bound to the active site, the chemical reaction takes place. The substrate – the molecule or molecules taking part in the chemical reaction – fits into the active site. Each enzyme has a region called an active site. Įnzymes are also involved in the building up of chemical molecules elsewhere in the body.Įnzymes are proteins that have a complex 3D shape. These reactions occur in the breakdown of chemical molecules, which we see in the digestive system. Įnzymes are biological catalysts – they speed up chemical reactions.Įnzymes are required for most of the chemical reactions that occur in organisms. The chemical reactions required to break them down would be too slow without enzymes. These must be broken down to be absorbed into the body. However, the enzyme can be reutilized again and again to catalyze more reactions.Most of the food we eat is complex carbohydrates, proteins and lipids. The enzyme then catalyzes the reaction and then an enzyme product complex is formed while releasing the product. It functions in the same way that only certain keys fit a particular lock, and also, only specific substrates fit an active site of the enzyme.Įach substrate is specific to a particularly active site, and whenever the correct substrate binds to the active site of the enzyme, an enzyme substrate is formed. The Lock and key mechanism basically refer to a metaphor to explain the enzyme active site’s specificity and substrate.
LOCK AND KEY MODEL OF ENZYME ACTION TRIAL
This model basically states that the enzymes are flexible structures.īook Your 60-minutes Free Trial class NOW! How do the Lock and key mechanism work? While coming to the induced fit model, the active site continues to modify until the substrate is entirely bound to the enzyme’s active site, and at that point, the final charge and shape are determined.

It is just like a key that we insert into the Lock where only a correctly shaped and sized key will fit well. In the Lock and key mechanism, the enzyme-substrate interaction states that the substrate and enzymes possess certain complementary geometric shapes that fit exactly into one another. Currently, there are basically two models that attempt to explain the enzyme specificity

A lock and key mechanism refer to a model for enzyme-substrate interface, suggesting that the substrate and enzyme acquire specific complementary shapes that fit well into one another.Įnzymes are highly specific that must bind to a particular substrate prior to catalyzing a chemical reaction.
