Molecular Anatomy Project.

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I. Introduction An enzyme is a protein that functions as a catalyst, to speed up the reaction by diminishing energy needed for the reaction (Ophardt, 2013). They also, “increase the rate of (a) reaction” without using as much energy as if it would when the reaction occurs on its own (Mader, pg.104). The beaded-like structure of an enzyme consists of a gap known as the “active site” which allows a substance to bind to the enzyme. Generally, an enzyme “acts specifically with only one reactant to produce a product” (Ophardt, 2013). The reactant that binds with an enzyme at the active site is known as a “substrate” and is engulfed by the enzyme creating an “induced fit model” where the reaction will occur. As a result of enzymes not being consumed by the reaction, it will not be part a product (Mader, pg.105). For mammals, lactase is an enzyme that allows the hydrolysis of lactose, a milk disaccharide, into glucose and galactose (Wiley, 2013). Lactase is a “membrane bound enzyme located in the brush border or microvilli of the small intestine” (Wiley, 2013). Given the definition of enzymes, lactase is only able to hydrolyze lactose, making it specific to lactose. The purpose of the following experiment is to test whether the enzyme lactase is specific to lactose, and to see how different environmental factors affect lactase function. The hypothesis we generated from this statement was that the lactose function is specific so it will only hydrolyze lactose. In order to test that, we first mixed different disaccharides to see if glucose was present in the solutions which proves that lactase has hydrolyzed lactose. In the first experiment, we had four test tubes containing a solution of Milk + Lactase, Milk + Water, Sucrose + Lac... ... middle of paper ... ...0 mg/dL of glucose was produced and that at a temperature of 25° C 300 mg/dL of glucose was produced. At a temperature of 100° C, there was no production of glucose, which indicates that the enzyme was possibly denatured. The data retrieved in this experiment illustrates that temperature can help or hinder the production of a product. References Appio, M. (n.d.). Lactase. MAP: Molecular Anatomy Project. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://maptest.rutgers.edu/drupal/?q=node/31 Mader, S. S. (2011). Inquiry into Life (13th ed., McGraw-Hill international ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill. Ophardt, C. E. (n.d.). Enzymes. Virtual Chembook. Retrieved November 7, 2013, from http://www.elmhurst.edu/~chm/vchembook/570enzymes.html Wiley, J. (n.d.). Lactose Intolerance.Concepts in Biochemistry. Retrieved November 10, 2013, from http://www.wiley.com/college/boyer/04700

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