Chapter 8, Problem 3P

An enzyme contains an active site aspartic acid with a pK_a = 5.0, which acts as a general acid catalyst. On the accompanying template, draw the curve of enzyme activity (reaction rate) versus pH for the enzyme (assume that the protein is stably folded between pH 2-12 and that the active site Asp is the only ionizable residue involved in catalysis). Briefly explain the shape of your curve.