Question

What are coenzymes? How do they differ from inorganic catalysts and cofactors? Give mechanism of enzyme action.

Answer 1

Co-enzymes are small, non-protein molecules that bind loosely to an enzyme. They are organic molecules that are required by certain enzymes to carry out catalysis. Co-enzyme is a type of co-factor and can be removed freely from enzyme whereas cofactors can be removed only when denaturing an enzyme. A catalyst is a chemical that increases the rate of a reaction without itself being changed.

The mechanism by which the enzyme action begins is with the binding of substrates to the active site of the enzyme. The active site is the specific reason of enzyme which combines with the substrate. An enzyme attracts the substrates to it's an active site, catalyses the chemical reaction by which products are formed and then allows the products to dissociate.