Why are enzyme temperature dependence and pH dependence curves bell shaped?

[BrokenGlass]

Why?

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[axp107]

anything dependance curve can be bell shaped...

consider getting being tipsy/drunk/wasted

you're tipsy, you start off at a lower happiness level... it rises and rises until an optimal "drunk" level.. then you blackout and it all goes downhill

hope that helped

(i don't know if this is a serious question considering you answer everyone elses questions)

 

[riceman04]

Why?

b/c dont they have optimal temps and pH's at which they operate

Think of examples of enzymes in the GI tract that only become active once they enter a region of specific pH...once the pH is too high/too low the enzymes are no longer active.

Same for temp...a temp that is too high is going to denature an enzyme (protein)...that is what happens to protein in meat when you cook it

 

[shantster]

They all have an optimal point, designated by the top of the peak on the bell curve. Once you stray from that optimal point, the enzyme's ability to function decreases but it does not immediately completely cease functioning.

 

[RoadRunner17]

Couldn't tell you why its bell shaped in particular but it's shaped that way in general due to the fact that enzymes have an optimum temperature or pH... deviation in both directions tend to decrease the effectiveness of the enzyme.

Now, maybe there's a statistical reason since the bell = normal curve where 1 standard deviation is 34% above/below the mean, 2 standard deviations 48% above/below the mean. So perhaps the distribution of enzyme performance with changing temperature and/or pH can be treated as a normal distribution. That's my guess. Anyone have any better ideas?

 

[corbis11]

enzymatic activity isn't really bell-shaped for temperature. There is a greater slope as the temp increases past the optimal point while the slope is lower as the temp decreases. It occurs since above the optimal temp the tertiary structure of the protein is destroyed rendering it useless while at lower temps the protein can still retain its shape, but there will be less collisions with the substrate compared to the optimal temp.

Enzymatic activity based upon pH roughly follows a bell-shaped curve.

 

[BrokenGlass]

enzymatic activity isn't really bell-shaped for temperature. There is a greater slope as the temp increases past the optimal point while the slope is lower as the temp decreases. It occurs since above the optimal temp the tertiary structure of the protein is destroyed rendering it useless while at lower temps the protein can still retain its shape, but there will be less collisions with the substrate compared to the optimal temp.

Enzymatic activity based upon pH roughly follows a bell-shaped curve.

Thanks! Live and learn, right?