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Enzymes----proteins that catalyze reactions in the body

Daniel Zhou

Enzymes are proteins (or RNA) produced by living cells that are highly specific and catalytic to their substrates. The catalytic action of enzymes is determined by the enzyme molecule's first-stage structure and spatial structure. The loss of enzyme activity may be brought on by enzyme molecular degeneration. Biological macromolecules known as enzymes have molecular weights of at least 10,000 and, in the case of large ones, up to 1 million.

Enzymes have significant characteristics that are different from ordinary catalysts: enzymes are highly specific to substrates and highly catalytic. Enzymes are adjustable and unstable. Carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, hydrogen and sodium are all the elements inside the enzyme. The nature and quantity of the enzyme remain unchanged after it takes part in each reaction in the organism. Enzymes have mild action conditions. Certain enzymes' catalytic activity depends on cofactors.

Since most enzymes are proteins, they will be destroyed by extreme temperatures, potent acids, potent bases, etc. Variability is another property of enzymes. There are many kinds of enzymes in the human body. Clinically monitoring the value of enzymes is of great significance for the judgment of the disease or the judgment of curative effect and the monitoring of treatment.

By an investigation of the DNA sequence of tetra meal coded RNA precursors, American scientist T. Cech and his colleagues discovered in 1982 that RNA has a catalytic role. In order to distinguish it from enzymes, Cech named it ‘ribozyme’, translated as nuclease, and it is also called “small catalytic RNA” in the classification of non-coding RNA, which is an important and useful finding in biology.

On the other hand, enzymes are really useful in our daily life, they can be used in the Detergent industry. We can add stains such as blood that are easy to wash off clothes. It can also be used in Dairy industry , for example :thrombin, a coagulant produced by cheese, can be used to break down proteins. The lactase enzyme breaks down lactose into glucose and galactose, producing lactose-free cow dairy products that are easier to stomach and absorb. Amylase is frequently used in the textile industry to fade fabrics since bacterial amylase can function at high temperatures of 100 to 110°C. Cellulase replaces the sandstone washing process to treat cotton cloth to make jeans to improve the quality of jeans.

In the medical and pharmaceutical industry, trypsin can be used to promote wound healing and dissolve blood clots, also to be used to remove necrotic tissue and inhibit the reproduction of contaminated microorganisms. The starch and protein of the winemaking raw material are converted by amylase, protease, and glucanase in the brewing sector into monosaccharides, amino acids, and peptides that may be utilized by yeast, enhancing the production of ethanol.





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