Biology -- Cofactor versus Prosthetic Group

[sciencebooks]

Anyone care you explain these two to me?

I know this much:

Cofactor = inorganic = non-covalent bonding to enzyme = necessary for proper function

Prosthetic group = non-protein but organic = covalent bonding to enzyme = part of active site

Is that all I need to know?

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[qw098]

A cofactor is any substance that is required for an enzyme to be catalytically active. These include organic and inorganic substances such as biotin and magnesium.

Coenzymes are organic cofactors. An example of this is NAD.

Prosthetic groups are cofactors that are tightly bound to the enzyme. An example is the heme of cytochrome c.

 

[Singhp03]

cofactors: co-enzymes(organic ex. NAD) and prosthetic groups(inorganic ex.Mg or organic)

-why are they there? ans. to create activated protein complexes
-difference btw prosthetic groups and co-enzymes? ans. how tightly they are bonded to protein(tight=prosthetic group)

 

[sciencebooks]

Hm, I pretty much went on the TPR definitions exactly. So prosthetic groups are INorganic?

 

[Singhp03]

Hm, I pretty much went on the TPR definitions exactly. So prosthetic groups are INorganic?

no they can be organic too, main difference is that prothetic groups are tightly bond to the protein while co-enzymes are not

 

[sciencebooks]

no they can be organic too, main difference is that prothetic groups are tightly bond to the protein while co-enzymes are not

Okay, so the whole bonded covalently versus non-covalently thing that TPR noted is the reason for the difference in bonding strength? Thanks, btw!