Enzymes

Enzymes are biological catalysts that are found in cells. They speed up the body’s biological responses. They are not used up in the process, thus they can be reused. The body’s ability to break down huge, complicated compounds into smaller ones is due to enzymes. Substrates, which are molecules that bind to a segment of enzymes to produce a chemical reaction, are used by enzymes. The “lock and key” concept is a popular way to depict the interaction between an enzyme molecule and a substrate. The piece of enzyme attaches to the substrate perfectly, allowing the binding to take place as if it were a key fitting into a lock. According to the notion, the substrate and enzyme must change form in order to bind.

Digestive Enzymes and Restriction Enzymes

Digestive enzymes aid in the digestion of meals. These proteins hasten the chemical reactions that convert nutrients into compounds that can be absorbed by your digestive system. Digestive enzymes are found in your saliva. Your pancreas, gallbladder, and liver are just a few of the organs that release them. They’re also stored in the cells that line the inside of your intestines.

A restriction enzyme is a bacterial protein that cleaves DNA at specific locations. The restricted site is what it’s called. Bacteriophages are protected by restriction enzymes in living bacteria. They detect and destroy the bacteriophage’s DNA by cleaving at its restriction spots. Genetic engineering relies heavily on restriction enzymes. It is possible to isolate them from bacteria and use them in laboratories. The recognition sequences in DNA are recognised by restriction enzymes, which are short and particular nucleotide sequences. When a restriction enzyme detects a DNA sequence, it cuts through the molecule by hydrolyzing the link between adjacent nucleotides. By adding the methyl group to the adenine or cytosine bases inside the recognition sequence with the help of enzyme methylases, the bacteria keeps its own DNA sequences from being degraded.

Few Interesting Facts about Enzymes

Here are a few interesting facts about enzymes:

1. Enzymes are secreted in a variety of locations: the stomach, mouth, small intestine cells, pancreas, and gut bacteria, to name a few.

2. Humans used to eat a lot of raw food in order to replenish the digestive tract with enzymes that were good for digesting. Foods that are substantially processed or prepared are prevalent in today’s diet. After being transported and chilled, these processes deplete natural enzyme levels.

3. Enzymes are essential for every bodily function — the protein-based molecules are found to be involved in digesting, respiration, excretion, reproduction, and many other processes.

4. Certain digestive enzymes, such as phytase, cellulase, and phytates, are missing from the human body (found in legumes and beans). As a result of this shortage, most people have trouble breaking down legumes, starchy beans, and nuts so that they can receive their nutritious benefits.

5. Enzymes play a role in nutrient absorption by breaking the bonds that hold nutrients together in the digestive tract.

6. Effect on lifestyle and diet – living a healthy lifestyle, eating a healthy diet, and exercising help the body produce healthy enzymes.

7. Age and enzyme production — when a person gets older, their body’s enzyme production diminishes. Our bodies produce less lipase, protease, and amylase as we age, causing problems with fat, protein, and carbohydrate digestion.

8. Plant-derived enzymes are active throughout a wide pH range in the body. This is why a plant-based digestive enzyme is frequently recommended as a supplement to aid in the digestion of a variety of foods, including sugars, dairy, fats, and carbs.

9. A variety of enzymes for a variety of foods – our bodies break down and absorb various nutrients, lipids, proteins, and carbs, which are the most fundamental foods. For this, the body creates enzymes including lipase, protease, and amylase.

10. Enzymes are also advantageous to children. Enzymes improve the health of the digestive tract and aid in the disintegration of a variety of foods in those tiny little tummies.

11. At higher temperatures, enzymes speed up processes. Reactions can be sped up by 20 percent with just a 2-degree temperature increase. The enzyme activity decreases dramatically when the temperature is too high.

Conclusion 

Hence, Enzymes are biological catalysts that are proteins (biocatalysts). Chemical reactions are sped up with catalysts. Substrates are the molecules on which enzymes can function, and the enzyme changes them into new molecules known as products. To occur at rates rapid enough to sustain life, almost all metabolic processes in the cell require enzyme catalysis. Enzymes are required to catalyse each step in metabolic processes. Enzymology is the study of enzymes, and pseudo enzyme analysis acknowledges that some enzymes have lost their ability to carry out biological catalysis over time, as evidenced by their amino acid sequences and strange ‘pseudo catalytic’ features.