What the enzyme consists of
What the enzyme consists ofand what caused such selective properties!?
Back in the 19th century, it was assumed that the main component that makes up the enzyme is a protein. In the 20th century in Germany made another re-attempt to find out what is the enzyme. It was mistakenly assumed that the enzymes can not be attributed either to proteins or to any other organic substances. A little later in America, the enzyme "urease" was obtained in the form of protein crystals, but this experience was invalidated due to distortion of the experiment.
Only in the 30s of the 20th century enzymes were got such as trypsin and pepsin in crystalline form, after that their structure was recognized as protein, which after 20 years was approved with x-ray structural analysis.
Proteins are complex organic substances with a very complex structure. They can have up to 4 different structural levels. So, if a protein consists of several interconnected chains, then such a structure will be called Quaternary. For example, this structure has the enzymealcoholdehydrogenase yeast. If at least one protein level is violated, it causes denaturation of the protein, acidic medium – destroys the bonds and disulfide bridges inside the protein molecules. If the temperature increases, the spirals, in which the protein molecules are folded, begin to unfold, which leads to a loss of catalytic properties of enzymes. This explains the sensitivity to the conditions of functioning of enzymes.
(the page properties of proteins about to proteins)
But as it turned out,enzyme consists of not only of protein. In addition to protein, there may also be another organic residue or even a metal ion. Interestingly, those enzymes containing such "inclusions"(metals or other organic residues) are able to be active and to be true catalysts of chemical reactions. The part of the enzyme molecule that contains such inclusions is called coenzyme (this name was given in 1897, when manganese was found in the ash of the enzyme lakkazy.
Our body itself produces the necessary proteins for us, peculiar only to our body, but coenzymes are synthesized with difficulty, beacouse metals in our body in the are quantities mainly with vitamins and minerals. Vitamins are very necessary for our body, they contain metals and contribute to the formation of efficient enzymes.
You can read more about vitamins on Vitamins and dietary supplements, which gives a detailed description of our vitamins and foods in which they can be found. The normal human body contains ions of various metals, while for a person weighing 70 kg is necessary for normal life 2.3 g of zinc (Zn), 4.1 g of iron (Fe), 0.2 g of copper (Cu), as well as many other trace elements: magnesium, molybdenum, cobalt, calcium, potassium, sodium.
For example, in the body, iron forms complex compounds and is an integral part of the enzyme peroxidase and catalase (this enzyme catalyzes the chemical oxidation reaction of the interaction of hydrogen peroxide and organic substances). But in order for our body to better process and split alcohol (this runs the enzyme alcoholdehydrogenase and carbonic anhydrase), we need the zinc.
How enzymes appear
People have unraveled the amazing and useful properties of enzymes a long time before their discovery. People did not know how to obtain and secrete enzymes yet, but they already knew what substances had a catalytic effect, for example, were widely used for fermentation of wine, preparation of dough, fermentation of milk (for example, the same yeast for preparation of alcohol). Of course,enzymes of living origin (derived from animal and plants) are still used, but a more interesting and modern direction is the allocation of pure enzymes. For example, in the known washing powders that wash well any fat spots, added special types of enzymes that can easily dissolve and not spoil the fabric.
Most of the enzymes we use are formed by certain types of microorganisms. The enzymes formed in such images can be obtained in almost unlimited quantities. It all depends on the environment and habitat of microorganisms, which we ourselves can, if desired, control.
The production of enzymes in application to the broad needs of people was organized in the late 19th century. But only after the middle of the 20th century with the development of bioengineering it became possible to realize all the needs of society in enzymes and open their mass production.
In an applied application for a chemical reaction, the enzyme is taken in very small quantities. For example, to turn a boiled chicken egg (protein) into a set of amino acids and convert them into a solution, it will take only 1 g of the enzyme pepsin and 2 hours of time.
In our body, DNA is responsible for the production of enzymes. A certain sequence of structural components of DNA, built into the bacterium molecule, will allow us to get the bacteria that will produce the necessary enzyme - as a strict program