Substrate Specificity Scholarly Open Access Journals
Enzymes bind to substrates called chemical reactants. Each type of enzyme may have one or more substrates, depending on the particular chemical reaction. In some reactions, multiple products are broken down into a single-reactant substrate. Two substrates may join together in others to create one larger molecule. Two reactants could also enter into a reaction, both change and leave the reaction as two products. Because enzymes are
proteins, this site consists of a unique combination of residual amino acids. Each residue of amino acids may be large or small; weakly acidic or basic; hydrophilic or hydrophobic; and positively charged, or neutral. Inside the active site, the positions, sequences, structures, and properties of these residues create a very specific chemical environment. A specific chemical substrate, like a jigsaw puzzle piece, matches this site and makes the enzyme specific to its substrate. The specificity they exhibit relative to the reactions they catalyze is one of the properties of enzymes that makes them so important as tools for diagnosis and research. Some enzymes exhibit absolute specificity; that is, they will only catalyze one specific reaction. Other enzymes are specific to a given type of chemical bond or functional group. To precede the reaction, two substrates must be bonded close to one another. The reaction cannot proceed unless two substrates are spatially adjacent or close each other. The enzyme should have a certain steric specificity from the case.
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