Application of Enzymes

Essay by raunakA, May 2008

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Assignment 1

Submitted by: Raunak Shrestha (BT-30)

Submitted to: Dr. Jyoti Maharjan

BIOT 203 (Biochemistry)

10th November 2006

Application of Enzymes

Living cells and tissues require basic nutrients and essential substances to divide, grow and perform their normal activities. Most of these substances are synthesized from food, water and other nutritional supplements. The step-by-step biochemical reaction involved in producing these components requires some special helper known as 'enzyme.'

Enzymes are proteins that catalyze or accelerate chemical reactions. Enzymes are biochemical catalysts. Almost all processes in the cell need enzymes in order to occur at significant rates.

Enzymes have variety of application. Trevan (1987) has grouped the applications into four broad categories:

Therapeutic uses

Analytical uses

Manipulative uses, and

Industrial uses

Therapeutic uses:

Enzymes are used for this purpose where some inborn errors of metabolism occur due to missing of enzyme where specific genes are introduced to encode specific missing enzymes.

However, in most cases certain diseases are treated by administrating the appropriate enzyme. Phenylketonuria is a genetic disorder of amino acid metabolism characterized by the constant excretion of the amino acid phenylalanine and its derivatives. It can result in mental retardation, seizures and other neurological problems. The condition can be treated with the enzyme phenylalanine hydroxylase. At present, probably the most important use of enzymes in the world is in the treatment of various diseases where blood clots form and block blood vessels. These are known as thromboembolic disease. Included here are heart attacks (acute myocardial infractions), blood clots from legs and other areas (deep venous thrombosis), and blood clots from lungs (extensive pulmonary embolism). Treatment of cystic fibrosis is another important use of enzymes. Here, we have a genetic disorder affecting multiple organs, including gastrointestinal system. The pancreas does not produce the enzymes necessary to breakdown the mucus of...