Enzymes

Proteins, facilitating or controling chemical reactions.

Enzymes were discovered during the analysis of alcoholic fermentation (glycolysis) in yeast cells. They are working as biological catalysts, by binding the respective reaction partners and facilitating their reaction.

Two models of the structure of lysozyme (from rainbow trout) are given as an example. (The structure has been published in 1996 by S.KARLSEN and E.HOUGH in the "protein database brookhaven".) The protein is degrading long polysaccharide chains from the cell wall of bacteria and is therefore important for the defence against bacteria. The model shows the binding of a short part of such a polysaccharide chain (red) by the enzyme (blue).