In biology and biochemistry, the active site is the region of an enzyme where substrate molecules bind and undergo a chemical reaction. The active site consists of amino acid residues that form temporary bonds with the substrate and residues that catalyse a reaction of that substrate. Although the active site occupies only ~10–20% of the volume of an enzyme, it is the most important part as it directly catalyzes the chemical reaction. It usually consists of three to four amino acids, while other amino acids within the protein are required to maintain the tertiary structure of the enzymes.
Cytochromes P450 (CYPs) are a superfamily of enzymes containing heme as a cofactor that functions as monooxygenases. In mammals, these proteins oxidize steroids, fatty acids, and xenobiotics, and are important for the clearance of various compounds, as well as for hormone synthesis and breakdown. In 1963, Estabrook, Cooper, and Rosenthal described the role of CYP as a catalyst in steroid hormone synthesis and drug metabolism. In plants, these proteins are important for the biosynthesis of defensive compounds, fatty acids, and hormones.
Drug metabolism is the metabolic breakdown of drugs by living organisms, usually through specialized enzymatic systems. More generally, xenobiotic metabolism is the set of metabolic pathways that modify the chemical structure of xenobiotics, which are compounds foreign to an organism's normal biochemistry, such as any drug or poison. These pathways are a form of biotransformation present in all major groups of organisms and are considered to be of ancient origin. These reactions often act to detoxify poisonous compounds. The study of drug metabolism is called pharmacokinetics.
Glucuronic acid is a uronic acid that was first isolated from urine. It is found in many gums such as gum arabic, xanthan, and kombucha tea and is important for the metabolism of microorganisms, plants and animals.
Biocatalysis refers to the use of living (biological) systems or their parts to speed up (catalyze) chemical reactions. In biocatalytic processes, natural catalysts, such as enzymes, perform chemical transformations on organic compounds. Both enzymes that have been more or less isolated and enzymes still residing inside living cells are employed for this task. Modern biotechnology, specifically directed evolution, has made the production of modified or non-natural enzymes possible. This has enabled the development of enzymes that can catalyze novel small molecule transformations that may be difficult or impossible using classical synthetic organic chemistry. Utilizing natural or modified enzymes to perform organic synthesis is termed chemoenzymatic synthesis; the reactions performed by the enzyme are classified as chemoenzymatic reactions.
Affinity labels are a class of enzyme inhibitors that covalently bind to their target causing its inactivation. The hallmark of an affinity label is the use a targeting moiety to specifically and reversibly deliver a weakly reactive group to the enzyme that irreversibly binds to an amino acid residue. The targeting portion of the label often resembles the enzyme's natural substrate so that a similar mode of noncovalent binding is used prior to the covalent linkage. Their usefulness in medicine can be limited by the specificity of the first noncovalent binding step whereas indiscriminate action can be utilized for purposes such as affinity labeling - a technique for the validation of substrate-specific binding of compounds.
In biochemistry, suicide inhibition, also known as suicide inactivation or mechanism-based inhibition, is an irreversible form of enzyme inhibition that occurs when an enzyme binds a substrate analog and forms an irreversible complex with it through a covalent bond during the normal catalysis reaction. The inhibitor binds to the active site where it is modified by the enzyme to produce a reactive group that reacts irreversibly to form a stable inhibitor-enzyme complex. This usually uses a prosthetic group or a coenzyme, forming electrophilic alpha and beta unsaturated carbonyl compounds and imines.
Phosphoenolpyruvate is the ester derived from the enol of pyruvate and phosphate. It exists as an anion. PEP is an important intermediate in biochemistry. It has the highest-energy phosphate bond found in organisms, and is involved in glycolysis and gluconeogenesis. In plants, it is also involved in the biosynthesis of various aromatic compounds, and in carbon fixation; in bacteria, it is also used as the source of energy for the phosphotransferase system.
2-Phosphoglyceric acid (2PG), or 2-phosphoglycerate, is a glyceric acid which serves as the substrate in the ninth step of glycolysis. It is catalyzed by enolase into phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), the penultimate step in the conversion of glucose to pyruvate.
Ascorbate peroxidase (or L-ascorbate peroxidase, APX) (EC 1.11.1.11) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
4-Nitrophenol is a phenolic compound that has a nitro group at the opposite position of the hydroxyl group on the benzene ring.
Biotransformation is the biochemical modification of one chemical compound or a mixture of chemical compounds. Biotransformations can be conducted with whole cells, their lysates, or purified enzymes. Increasingly, biotransformations are effected with purified enzymes. Major industries and life-saving technologies depend on biotransformations.
In enzymology, a 2'-deoxymugineic-acid 2'-dioxygenase (EC 1.14.11.24) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a manganese peroxidase (EC 1.11.1.13) is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, an arginine—tRNA ligase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a leucine—tRNA ligase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
In enzymology, a valine—tRNA ligase is an enzyme that catalyzes the chemical reaction
Iopanoic acid is an iodine-containing radiocontrast medium used in cholecystography. Both iopanoic acid and ipodate sodium are potent inhibitors of thyroid hormone release from thyroid gland, as well as of peripheral conversion of thyroxine (T4) to triiodothyronine (T3). These compounds inhibit 5'deiodinase (5'DID-1 and 5'DID-2) enzymes, which catalyse T4-T3 conversion in the thyroid cell, liver, kidney, skeletal muscle, heart, brain, pituitary. This accounts for the dramatic improvement in both subjective and objective symptoms of hyperthyroidism, particularly when they are used as an adjunctive therapy with thioamides (propylthiouracil, carbimazole). They can be used in the treatment of patients with severe thyrotoxicosis (thyroid storm) and significant morbidity (e.g., myocardial infarction, or stroke) for rapid control of elevated plasma triiodothyronine concentrations. The use of iopanoic acid for treatment of thyrotoxicosis has been discontinued in the United States.
Prostaglandin G2 is an organic peroxide belonging to the family of prostaglandins. The compound has been isolated as a solid, although it is usually used in vivo. It quickly converts into prostaglandin H2, a process catalyzed by the enzyme COX.
Competitive inhibition is interruption of a chemical pathway owing to one chemical substance inhibiting the effect of another by competing with it for binding or bonding. Any metabolic or chemical messenger system can potentially be affected by this principle, but several classes of competitive inhibition are especially important in biochemistry and medicine, including the competitive form of enzyme inhibition, the competitive form of receptor antagonism, the competitive form of antimetabolite activity, and the competitive form of poisoning.
