Enzyme studies using acid Phosphate. This experiment will investigate the effect of pH on enzyme activities.

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Enzyme studies using acid Phosphate

Introduction:

This experiment will investigate the effect of pH on enzyme activities. Enzymes are biological catalyst, made of protein and held together by peptide bonds. Catalyst accelerates the rate of reaction by lowering the activation energy. The rate of reaction is dependent on several factors which include pH, temperature. Another dependent factor which is worth considering is the product and substrate concentration, which become a rate limiting factor at certain point during the catalytic process.

Acid phosphatase is the name given to a general enzyme activity which is present in most eukaryotic cells. This enzyme hydrolyzes a phosphate group from a variety of natural and artificial substrates.

The substrate for an acid phosphatase reaction must contain a phosphate functional group attached to another molecule through a chemical bond involving the phosphate and a hydroxyl (-OH) or alcohol functional group. The products of the reaction are the free phosphate group and the rest of the molecule with a free -OH group.

The artificial substrate is called Para-nitro-phenyl phosphate. When acid phosphatase acts upon p-nitrophenyl phosphate the products are a free phosphate group and a substance called Para-nitro-phenol, which is an