The Curve That Turns

You'll learnhow temperature, pH and inhibitors change an enzyme's rate by changing its folded shape.

An enzyme is a fold, and the fold is the function. Warm it and the rate climbs; keep warming and the curve turns and falls off a cliff — not fewer collisions, but the protein coming unfolded. Same story for pH, same story for an inhibitor that reshapes the site from across the molecule. Eleven short steps; press Next for each one.

AP BIOLOGY · 11 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · RATE PEAKS AT THE OPTIMUM · THE FALL IS DENATURATION · UNFOLDING ≠ BROKEN BACKBONE · v6

enzyme · optimum · denature

Before you start

What you're looking at

The same enzyme from Topic 3.1: a chain of amino-acid beads folded into a shape, with a substrate wedge arriving at its pocket.

The question

If the fold is held together only by weak bonds, what happens when the environment pulls on them?

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