Enzyme kinetics

Enzyme kinetics is the study of enzyme catalyzed chemical reactions. Enzymes speed up reactions by binding to the transition state of the reaction. A detailed overview on enzyme kinetics can be found here. Increasing substrate concentration speeds up a reaction to a certain point, Vmax. Vmax is the maximum reaction rate that can occur and adding more substrate will not increase the rate of the reaction because the enzyme binding site has become saturated. The Michaelis–Menten constant, Km, is defined as the substrate concentration in which the reaction will go at half maximal rate. In order to determine the Km and Vmax of a reaction you will first have to calculate the reaction rate at several different substrate concentrations.

Determining reaction rates

This video shows you how to calculate reaction rates in Excel for urease, an enzyme that catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea to carbon dioxide and ammonia.

Determining Km and Vmax

Km and Vmax can be determined once reactions rates at different substrate concentrations have been calculated. This video shows you how to calculate Km and Vmax in Excel.

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