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Unit 5 SM: Biology

Unit 5 of the Biology Cambridge IGCSE focuses on enzymes as biological catalysts that speed up metabolic reactions in living organisms. It discusses how enzymes are specific to substrates, their naming conventions, and factors affecting their activity, such as temperature and pH, which can lead to denaturation. Understanding these concepts is essential for grasping the role of enzymes in biological processes.

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17 views6 pages

Unit 5 SM: Biology

Unit 5 of the Biology Cambridge IGCSE focuses on enzymes as biological catalysts that speed up metabolic reactions in living organisms. It discusses how enzymes are specific to substrates, their naming conventions, and factors affecting their activity, such as temperature and pH, which can lead to denaturation. Understanding these concepts is essential for grasping the role of enzymes in biological processes.

Uploaded by

PABLO 9
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© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BIOLOGY CAMBRIDGE IGCSE

4RD SECUNDARY

SUMMARY: UNIT 5 ENZYMES


5.1. BIOLOGICAL CATALYSTS.
5.2. FACTORS THAT AFFECT ENZYMES.

REALIZADO POR: PROFESOR/PROFESORA:


Miss Jessica Palacios
Pablo Piqueras Bolás

September 2022

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5.1. Biological catalysts

Many chemical reactions can be speeded up by substances called catalysts. They alter the
rate of a chemical reaction without changing itself.

Living Organisms have metabolic reactions, this metabolic reactions are usually controlled by
catalysts called enzymes. Without enzymes this metabolic reactions would take place very
slowly.

Image of the parts of an enzyme How a real enzyme look like

e.g. (animals) Inside the small intestine > large molecules are broken into small molecules in
the process of digestion. This broken down of molecules is controlled and speed up by enzymes.
A different enzyme is needed for each nutrient. (maltose “sugar” > amylase or amino acids >
protease).

e.g. (plants) Germinating seeds. Many seeds contain starch. As the seed takes itself water the
enzyme amylase begging to activate. Amylase breaks down starch into maltose, maltose is
soluble and that’s helpful to be transported by the plant. (Maltose also is transported to the

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embryo and this provides energy for growing.) (Maltose can provide glucose to make cellulose
and make cell walls).

Another enzyme that speed up a reaction is CATALASE (work inside cells of l.organisms) it
helps to delete a waste product of our organism.

𝐻𝑦𝑑𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑒𝑛 𝑝𝑒𝑟𝑜𝑥𝑖𝑑𝑒 → 𝑤𝑎𝑡𝑒𝑟 + 𝑜𝑥𝑦𝑔𝑒𝑛

BE CAREFUL!: Not all enzymes break down molecules, enzymes can instead make large
molecules into small molecules.

5.1.2. Naming enzymes

They are named according to the reaction they catalyse. Often they end with -ase.

EXAMPLES:

• Carbohydrates > carbohydrases


• Proteins > proteases
• Lipids > lipases

The substrate is the substance that an enzyme causes to react. (e.g. the substrate of lipase is
lipids).

5.1.3. How enzymes work

Main parts of enzymes

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Enzymes have specific shapes with a dent in it called active site. The substrate that fit
perfectly with the active site is what we call complementary. When the substrate is in the
active site the enzyme makes to change the substrate into a product and this product breaks
away from the enzyme.

CHARACTERISTICS:

• Specificity: Each enzyme can only catalyse reactions with on type of substrate.
• Involve metabolic reactions
• Can be affected by some factors: temperature and ph.
• Can speed up a reaction.

Enzyme-substrate complex: The structure formed as the substrate binds temporarily to the
active site of an enzyme.

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5.2. Factors that affect enzymes

Enzymes work very quickly and there are some factors affecting the speed of action.
Enzymes are very sensitive to temperature and pH, each kind of enzyme has a particular
temperature and pH at which Works faster, called the optimum temperature and the
optimum pH.

5.2.1. Denaturation

Enzymes in the human body often have an optimum temperature of about 37ºC. (enzyme
from plants has much lower).

Many enzymes stop working at temperature around 60ºC, because high temperature
damage enzymes. The enzyme will be called denatured and it can’t catalyse its reaction
anymore.

Many enzymes have an optimum pH of 7. Enzymes placed in a liquid with a different


pH than 7 can be damage, and it happens the same as in the temperature, the enzyme will
be called denatured and it can’t catalyse its reaction anymore.

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5.2.2. Explaining how the temperature and pH affect enzyme activity

• At 0ºC: The enzyme has no activity, molecules have very little kinetic energy so
that’s the main reason why the substrate and the enzyme are not likely to collide.

• Temperature increases: The kinetic energy of the enzyme and the substrate
molecules increases. They move faster and collide with each other frequently and
with much more energy.

The enzyme activity increases as the temperature increases.

• Increases above the optimum: there is no more complementary shape to the


substrate. The activity of the enzyme decreases.

• At 60ºC: The enzyme is denatured and stop completely working.

On pH is quite similar: pH above or below the optimum pH causes the enzyme molecule to
lose its shape and to become denature.

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