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Enzyme
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An enzyme is a protein that acts as an accelerator for a chemical reaction in the body. The molecule it works on is called the substrate. What the enzyme lowers is the activation energy, the minimum push a reaction needs to get started.
It lowers that energy by stabilizing the transition state, the awkward moment halfway between what was there and what comes next. Holding that moment steady speeds up the reaction to rates fast enough to sustain life. The substrate does not stick just anywhere: it slots into a pocket in the protein called the active site.
And that pocket is picky. Enzymes tend to be highly specific, binding only certain substrates for certain reactions. Picture a lock and its key: if the key does not fit, nothing happens.
All of them fall into six main categories.
In brief
Enzymes are proteins that act on molecules called substrates and lower the activation energy a chemical reaction needs in order to happen.
They do this by stabilizing the transition state, which speeds up the reaction to rates that sustain life; the substrate binds in a pocket called the active site.
They tend to be highly specific, binding only certain substrates for certain reactions; they fall into six main categories.
A lock and its key: if the piece does not fit, nothing happens.
Sources (1)
- National Center for Biotechnology Information, StatPearls PublishingBiochemistry, Proteins Enzymes, StatPearlsPublished
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