3.

1- Enzyme Structure
Enzymes
- Enzymes are biological catalysts that speed up chemical reactions
- Most enzymes are proteins and remain in the tertiary structure for functionality
- Have a region called the active site that the substrate binds to
- Slight changes can occur in the active site so the substrate can bind
- Enzyme names show the reaction going on
- Enzyme names often use -ase
- Enzymes are reusable, they are not chemically changed
Active Site
- The active site and substrate interact
- Active site has a unique shape and size
- Can have chemical charges
Binding and reactions
- The active site and substrate must have the same physical and chemical properties
otherwise they are not compatible
- Slight changes can occur in the active site so the substrate can bind
- Cells maintain a specific enzyme concentration
- Enzymes can have synthesis and digestion reactions which means the break down and
build up of substrates
Takeaway
- Enzymes speed up chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy
- Structural characteristics of the enzyme make the enzyme very reaction specific
- The charge and shape of the substrate must be compatible with the active site for a
reaction to occur
- Enzymes are not consumed by the reaction, they are reused

3.2- Enzyme Catalysis

Rate of Reactions
- All biochemical reactions need initial starting energy called activation energy
- Some reactions bring a net release of energy and some reactions bring in a net
absorption of energy
- Reactions with more net release of energy need less activation energy
- Enzymes lower activation energy and speed up reactions
Takeaways #1
- Enzymes are biological catalysts that facilitate chemical reactions in cells by lowering
activation energy requirements
- Activation energy is the required energy to start a reaction
Experimental vs. Control components
- A controlled experiment is a scientific investigation
- 2 types of tests set in a controlled experiment
- Control Group- generates data with no treatment and unchanged conditions, considered
baseline data
- Experimental Group- generates data under unknown and treated conditions, it is often
compared to the control group to find the impacts of the treatment
- A control group is used as the standard of comparison
- Negative control= NOT exposed to a KNOWN treatment or the experimental treatment
- Positive control= exposed to a treatment with a KNOWN affect and NOT exposed to an
experimental treatment
- Controlled variables are purposefully not changed
- Controlled variables are useful to help find the cause of a treatment or the impact of it
- Only variables known to have an impact should be used as a controlled variable
- Controlled variables are constants
Takeaways #2
- When it is asking for a control, provide a treatment and why it should be conducted
- When asking for a control group find a constant or something before treatment

3.3- Environmental Impacts on Enzyme Function

A change to the molecular structure of an enzyme might affect the function
- Enzymes have unique 3D shapes in the tertiary structure
- Changes in the shape that cause it to fall apart is denaturation
- Changes in environmental temperature and pH can lead to denaturation
- Enzyme denaturation is irreversible and the catalytic ability of the enzyme is
lost/decreased
- In some cases it is reversible and can start activity up again
Environmental temperature can alter the efficiency of enzyme activity
 - Optimum temperature= enzyme reactions are the fastest
- Reaction rate changes when optimum temperature isn’t maintained
- Environmental increase in temp, initially rate of reactions increase, increase speed of
molecular movement and enzyme substrate collisions
- If the temperature increases too much outside optimum temperature it can denature
- Temp decrease= decrease in speed but does not affect enzyme structure or cause
denaturation
Environmental pH can alter the efficiency of enzyme activity
- pH measures the concentration of hydrogen ions in the solution and is measured on a
logarithmic scale
- Small changes in pH value= large shift in hydrogen ion concentration
- Ex. ph 6 has 10x more ions than ph 7
- Optimum pH= ranges with fastest reactions, going outside the range can cause
decrease or stopping, denaturation can occur in both increase and decrease
- The changes in ion concentration can disrupt bond activities and interactions that
maintain the enzyme structure, could result in changing the enzyme's shape so nothing
can bind
Concentrations of substrates and products affect reaction rates
- Increase in substrate concentration is an increase in reaction rate because more
substrate is more opportunity to collide with enzymes
- Substrate saturation will occur
- Substrate saturation= no further increase in rate of reaction and it will remain constant
- Increased concentration of products decrease opportunities for additional substrate
because matter takes up space
- More product in the area means less substrate enzyme collisions= slower reaction rate
Enzyme concentration on reaction rate
- Changes in enzyme concentration can also affect reaction rate
- Less enzyme concentration= slower reaction because less opportunity for substrate to
collide with active side
- More enzyme concentration= faster reaction because more opportunity for substrate to
collide with active site
Competitive inhibition
- Goes directly into active site and prevents substrate from binding
- REVERSIBLE
Non-competitive inhibition
- Goes indirectly into enzyme into allosteric site and causes a shape change
- IRREVERSIBLE
3.4- Cellular Energy
All living organisms require a constant input of energy
- Sunlight is the main energy source for living systems
- Autotrophs capture energy from physical sources like sunlight or chemical sources and
transform energy into usable energy by all cells
- During every energy transformation process, some energy is unusable and is often lost
as heat
Life requires a highly ordered system and does not violate the second law of
thermodynamics
- Every energy transfer increases the disorder of the universe
- Living cells are not at equilibrium; there is a constant flow of materials in and out of the
cell.
- Cells manage energy resources by energy coupling. Energy releasing processes drive
energy storing processes
- Ex. reactants make products that can be reused as a reactant once again
Pathways in biological systems are essential
- Within a chemical pathway, the product of one reaction can serve as a reactant in a
subsequent reaction
- The sequential reactions allow for a more controlled and efficient transfer of energy
Takeaways
- Living things use the chemical energy stored in molecular bonds of macromolecules and
ATP to perform necessary life functions
- Pathways in biological systems are essential to allow for a more controlled and efficient
transfer of energy
3.5- Photosynthesis
Organisms capture and store energy for use in biological processes
- Photosynthesis is the biological process that captures energy from the Sun and
produces sugars
- Evidence supports the claim that prokaryotic photosynthesis by organisms, such as
cyanobacteria, was responsible for the production of oxygen in the atmosphere
- Photosynthetic pathways are the foundation of eukaryotic photosynthesis