Chapter 13, Problem 13.141CP

Interpretation Introduction

Interpretation:

When a protease enzyme acts on a peptide bond the enzyme increases the rate of the peptide bond breaking reaction.

Concept introduction:

• Proteolysis is the breakdown of proteins into smaller polypeptides or amino acids. Uncatalysed, the hydrolysisof peptide bondsis extremely slow and takes even hundreds of years.

• Proteolysis is typically catalyzed by cellular enzymes called proteases, but may also occur by intra-molecular digestion. Low pH or high temperatures can also called proteolysis non-enzymatically.

• The time is taken for half of the reaction to complete for a first-order reaction is independent of the initial concentration.

To determine:

By what factor the enzyme increases the rate of the peptide bond breaking reactionif these half-lives correspond to first order reactions.