Importance of Enzymes

Serena Cuoghi
Title of Professor of Biology

Enzymes are a type of protein responsible for allowing or accelerating chemical reactions in the body. Its structure is highly variable and depends directly on the organization of the amino acids that make up these biological polymers. Without its functionality, the vast majority of metabolic processes could not develop, so its importance is vital in the strictest sense of the expression.

The classification of enzymes has been developed based on their specific actions on metabolic processes, in this way we have: 1) those that intervene in the union of molecules that serve as substrates, called Ligases; 2) those that do the exact opposite of the previous ones, therefore called Liasas; 3) enzymes that direct the transfer of only functional groups between molecules and are therefore logically named Transferases; 4) the three-dimensional change that a molecule can have, without ceasing to be the same molecule, is a process induced by Isomerases; 5) on the other hand, many of the oxidation-reduction processes require a stimulus greater than the provided by inorganic catalysts, rather using oxidoreductases to take place; 6) Finally, the capacity that Hydrolases have to break molecules using water is presented.

enzymes in digestion

From the most basic and initial processes for the body, such as obtaining the necessary nutrients For the survival of the individual, there is a direct dependence between food and the action of the enzymes.

Both in humans and in other animals, the digestion process begins from the moment in which food enters to the mouth, thanks to the action of the enzymes that are added throughout the entire digestive process, an example of this is the amylase, responsible for the primary degradation of carbohydrates to obtain simpler sugars, being provided by the saliva.

enzymatic delicacies

Although the activity of enzymes is a hard and ceaseless task, these large molecules are actually very fragile in nature. Their very conformation as specialized proteins gives them easily vulnerable physical-chemical characteristics, such as the denaturation of its molecular structure at relatively high temperatures – from 41 or 42 ºC – so that organisms non-extremophiles have to stay within the normal temperature range according to their habitat and species, so as not to put their own life at risk. life.

The pH level, that is, the acidity or alkalinity of the medium is also a transcendental factor in the activity of the enzymes, the alteration of the specific ranges of pH in the which the reaction of an enzyme develops, leads to a considerable disturbance of its chemical activity, due to the fact that enzymes are made up of enormous chains of amino acids, which in turn have a specific range of acidity or alkalinity to be able to stick together and to allow the interaction of the whole protein with the others molecules.

Other particular functions

Protective metabolic reactions such as allowing a blood coagulation function for the reduction of bleeding life-threatening, as well as the production of the wound healing process, are the direct responsibility of the enzymes that they regulate them. The same case for the various actions of the immune system, especially those aimed at generating antibodies that allow defense against agents known pathogens, thus corroborating that the importance of enzymes for the survival of an individual transcends even the external facts to which can be seen exposed in its environment, which has allowed us to deduce and later verify that there are also molecular variations of the enzymes due to processes evolutionary.

This link between enzymes and evolution is directly marked in the genes, the DNA historical archive in charge of guiding the organization processes of information, which thanks to RNA ends up becoming this or that enzyme, through protein synthesis, which in turn implies the existence of a wide range of possibilities of error – that is how fragile and fortuitous life is – generating the possible appearance of some type of metabolic disorder, with consequences as variable as risky for the survival of the individual and from facts as simple as, for example, gluten intolerance in humans with celiac disease, which can be generated through at any age and can be managed with a proper diet, to hundreds of metabolic disorders that can present from before birth and put the health of the child at imminent risk life.

References

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Hickman, C. et al. (1998) Integral Principles of Zoology. 11th Ed. Madrid, Spain. McGraw-Hill Interamericana.

Lehninger, A. (1977). Biochemistry. 2nd Edition. Havana City, Cuba. Editorial People and Education.

Mathews, C. et al. (2005). Biochemistry. 3rd Edition. Madrid Spain. Pearson–Addison Wesley.

Villa, C. (1996). Biology. 8th Edition. Mexico. McGraw-Hill.