Video Transcript
In the diagram provided, a section
is labeled with a question mark. This is where the substrate will
bind. What is the scientific term given
to this part of the enzyme?
This question asks us to identify a
specific portion of the enzyme–substrate complex. Let’s briefly review what an enzyme
and substrate are in order to answer our question correctly.
You might remember that an enzyme
is also called a biological catalyst. This is because enzymes accelerate
chemical reactions. A chemical reaction is the process
in which a substance or multiple substances are changed into a new substance or new
substances. The initial substance is called a
reactant, and the final substance of the reaction is called a product.
Enzymes only speed up this
process. This means they are not used up
during the course of the reaction. The reactants in an
enzyme-catalyzed reaction are called substrates. Note that every enzyme has a
specific substrate to which it binds. As you can see in these diagrams,
the substrate must have a complementary structure to a specific site on its matching
enzyme. Only when this complementarity is
given can the substrate and enzyme correctly bind to each other. The area on the enzyme where this
occurs is called the active site.
Now that we have reviewed the
basics of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and the enzyme–substrate complex, we know the
correct answer to our question. The area in which the substrate
binds to the enzyme is the active site.
