What are the different types of enzymes based on the sort of reaction they catalyze?
Posted July 25, 2024
Answer
There are six types of enzymes based on the sort of reaction they catalyze:
- Oxidoreductases: These enzymes catalyze oxidation and reduction reactions in which the electrons travel from one molecule to the other, oxidizing one compound and reducing the other.
- Example: Pyruvate dehydrogenase, which catalyzes the oxidation of pyruvate to acetyl coenzyme A.
- Transferases: Transferases catalyze the transfer of the functional group from a donor molecule to an acceptor molecule.
- Example: Transaminase, which transfers an amino group from one molecule to another.
- Hydrolases: These are hydrolytic enzymes. They catalyze the hydrolysis reaction by adding water to cleave the bond and hydrolyze it.
- Example: Pepsin, which hydrolyzes peptide bonds in proteins.
- Lyases: Lyases catalyze the removal of a group from a substrate to create double bonds or it may catalyze the reverse reaction.
- Example: Aldolase, an enzyme in glycolysis, which catalyzes the reaction in which fructose-1, 6-bisphosphate is split to form glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate.
- Isomerases: These enzymes catalyze the rearrangement of atoms within a molecule, causing the molecule to convert into its isomer.
- Example: Phosphoglucomutase catalyzes the conversion of glucose-1-phosphate to glucose-6-phosphate. During this reaction, a phosphate group is transferred from one position to another in the same compound.
- Ligases: Ligases catalyze the joining together of two separate molecules into one molecular compound, releasing energy during the process.
- Example: DNA ligase, which forms a phosphodiester bond that joins two fragments of DNA.
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