Sample interview questions: Describe your knowledge of the principles of enzymology and their applications in biophysics.
Sample answer:
1. Enzyme Structure and Function:
- Enzymes are highly specific protein catalysts that facilitate biochemical reactions in living organisms.
- They lower the activation energy required for a reaction to occur, enhancing reaction rates.
- Enzymes possess active sites, which are specific regions where substrates bind and undergo catalytic transformations.
- Enzyme activity is influenced by factors like temperature, pH, substrate concentration, and the presence of inhibitors or activators.
2. Enzyme Kinetics:
- Enzyme kinetics studies the rates of enzyme-catalyzed reactions and the factors that affect them.
- Michaelis-Menten kinetics describes the relationship between enzyme concentration, substrate concentration, and reaction rate.
- Km, the Michaelis constant, represents the substrate concentration at which the reaction rate is half-maximal.
- Vmax, the maximal reaction rate, is achieved when the enzyme is saturated with substrate.
- Enzyme turnover number is the number of substrate molecules converted into product per unit time by a single enzyme molecule.
3. Enzyme Inhibition:
- Enzyme inhibitors bind to enzymes and reduce their catalytic activity.
- Competitive inhibitors bind to the enzyme’s active site, competing with the substrate for binding.
- Non-competitive inhibitors bind to allosteric sites on the enzyme, altering its conformation and reducing its activity.
- Inhibition studies provide insights into enzyme mechanisms and can be employed in drug design and development.
4. Enzyme Regulation:
- Enzyme activity can be regulated through various mechanisms, including allosteric regulation, covalent modifications, and gene expression control.
- Allosteric regulation involves the binding of small molecules to specific sites on the enzyme, causing conformational changes that alter its activity.
- Covalent modifications, such as phosphorylation, can activate or deactivate enzymes.
- Gene expression control regulates the synthesis of e… Read full answer