Catabolic and Anabolic Enzymes

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Enzymes are biological catalysts that alter the rate of a chemical reaction without being used up in the reaction.

Enzymes are the driving force for metabolism.
They catalyse metabolic reactions such as respiration.
They are biological catalysts made from proteins.
Proteins are made of long chains of amino acids that fold to form a 3D shape.
All enzymes are globular proteins.

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Metabolism: the sum of all the chemical reactions in an organism.

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Catabolic Reaction: the breakdown of larger molecules into smaller molecules e.g. digestion.

Anabolic Reaction: the use of smaller molecules to form larger molecules e.g. photosynthesis, protein synthesis.

Catabolic Enzymes

Catabolic enzymes are involved in catabolic reactions.
They break large molecules into smaller ones.
Example: Amylase
- Catalyses the breakdown of starch into maltose.
- Found in saliva and pancreatic juices.

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Catabolic reactions break down larger molecules: Catabolic = Catastrophe

Anabolic Enzymes

Anabolic enzymes are involved in anabolic reactions.
They help combine smaller molecules to form larger ones.
Example: DNA polymerase
- Catalyses DNA formation.
- Found in all living cells.

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