2. 10pts. You are isolating a bacterial enzyme that breaks down a specific prote
ID: 218451 • Letter: 2
Question
2. 10pts. You are isolating a bacterial enzyme that breaks down a specific protein in mice. You harvest the infected cells from mice and try to grow them in the lab in regular media at room temperature, but now the enzyme is not working. a) Using what you know about enzymes, what might have changed (give at least two thing) and how would you try to fix it? You have another guess that there might be a protein in the media that's acting as an inhibitor, but you know there's no protein that mimics the normal substrate. b) Could there be another type of inhibitor? Explain!Explanation / Answer
a) The enzyme should be kept active for as long as possible. The enzyme should be prevented from denaturating (unfolding). Inside the mice it can be the enzyme's natural habitat that means the conditions are optimal to keep the enzyme active. That condition should be maintained when it is isolated. The major factors that deactivates the enzyme are pH,temperature and ionic strengths. The interactions of ions especially metal ions,hydrophobic substances with the protein surfaces. These are the few conditions that have changed and maintaining them can make the enzyme active.
b) There are proteins that can act as an inhibitor but there's no protein that mimics the normal substrate. So it can be the antibiotics that are present in the media that can act as inhibitor and thereby made the enzyme inactive.
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