Jump to content

How enzyme moves?

Featured Replies

So I am curious as to know how the enzyme "gets" to the right place for a reaction. To begin with, enzymes are free floating in a cell. Do they attract to the substract like a magnet and home in on them or how exactly do they move? I know I can't really picture this in a molecular scale, but how enzymes move has a lot to do with how a nanomachine could be designed.

No they basically need to bump into each other for something to happen. It is generally assumed that in small bacterial cells the volume is sufficiently small for it to happen by chance (though there may be some mechanisms that allow crowding). In larger cells many reactions are confined within certain organelles for this reason. Actual enzyme movement is based on conformational changes but they do not hunt down their substrates actively, if that is what you mean.

  • 3 weeks later...

Enzymes are proteins which have a tertiary (i think?) structure and this means that they have a complex shape, enabling substrates to be very specific to the enzyme (they have to have the shape which fits in)

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

Important Information

We have placed cookies on your device to help make this website better. You can adjust your cookie settings, otherwise we'll assume you're okay to continue.

Configure browser push notifications

Chrome (Android)
  1. Tap the lock icon next to the address bar.
  2. Tap Permissions → Notifications.
  3. Adjust your preference.
Chrome (Desktop)
  1. Click the padlock icon in the address bar.
  2. Select Site settings.
  3. Find Notifications and adjust your preference.