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Proteins as Enzymes

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Food biopolymers: Structural, functional and nutraceutical properties

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Abstract

A fundamental principle of proteins is to act as enzymes-biocatalysts working as highly efficient machines at the molecular level by accelerating the conversion of substrates into products. Although RNAs are also capable of catalyzing some biochemical reactions, but most are catalyzed by proteins. A variety of experimental and computational techniques continue to reveal that proteins are dynamically active machines. Due to the growing complexity and inconsistency in the naming of enzymes, the nomenclature committee of the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB) has assigned an EC number a four level hierarchical description to enzyme proteins. In the past, enzymes function has been explained on the basis of direct structural interactions between the enzyme and the substrate. The structural characterization of enzymes can be elucidating by various techniques such as spectroscopic methods, x-ray crystallography and more recently, multidimensional NMR methods. This chapter covers the basic principles of enzymes such as proteinaceous nature and substrate binding, classification, and structural characterization.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India

    Sajad A. Rather, F. A. Masoodi, Jahangir A. Rather, Tariq A. Ganaie, Rehana Akhter & S. M. Wani

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  1. Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India

    Adil Gani

  2. Department of Food Science and Technology, University of Kashmir, Srinagar, India

    Bilal Ahmad Ashwar

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Rather, S.A., Masoodi, F.A., Rather, J.A., Ganaie, T.A., Akhter, R., Wani, S.M. (2021). Proteins as Enzymes. In: Gani, A., Ashwar, B.A. (eds) Food biopolymers: Structural, functional and nutraceutical properties. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-27061-2_13

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