INTRODUCTION:
The objective of this lab is to measure the activity of an enzyme and the effects of environment conditions on enzyme activity. Enzymes are catalysts; agents that speed up chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy required. This means that a catalyst helps reactions occur at a greater speed and lower temperature. For this lab report we focused on the enzyme Tyrosinase, Tyrosinase is an enzyme that produces melanin from the amino acid tyrosine. Three different reactions were catalyzed by Tyrosinase; for the first reaction tyrosine is oxidized into DOPA by tyrosinase. Second, tyrosinase oxidizes DOPA to DOPAaquinone and the third reaction tyrosinase oxidizes DOPAquinone to DOPAchrome. The importance and meaning of the oxidation reactions is that DOPAchrome takes the position of a catalyst by DOPAchrome reacting to form melanin and the need catalyst is not …show more content…
Tyrosinase can be found in animals, fungus and plants, a malfunctioning tyrosinase enzyme in humans can cause albinism. (Staples, 71) Melanin is a pigment in our skin that protects us against the UV radiation from the sun, without it, it would lead to increase the risk of skin cancer. Tyrosine is an important enzyme as we can see so it’s just as important to learn and understand how it works. What is the ideal pH for its functionality? Is the activity of the enzyme affected by the temperature? Is tyrosinase identify by using electrophoresis? Hypothesis for the experiments are as follow: if tyrosinase is place in a pH of 6 will it continue to function normally and will light be absorbed at 475nm. If tyrosinase is put in a pH of 4 or 8 can the function be hindered if it’s not arrested completely? If tyrsosinase is placed in DOPA at three different heats (0, 37, 55 degrees) will it affects the activity of the enzyme. These hypotheses will be tested with the tyrosinase enzyme by measuring the product DOPAchrome in a spectrophotometer at 475nm wavelength, since that where
The objective of this lab is to measure the activity of an enzyme and the effects of environment conditions on enzyme activity. Enzymes are catalysts; agents that speed up chemical reactions by lowering the activation energy required. This means that a catalyst helps reactions occur at a greater speed and lower temperature. For this lab report we focused on the enzyme Tyrosinase, Tyrosinase is an enzyme that produces melanin from the amino acid tyrosine. Three different reactions were catalyzed by Tyrosinase; for the first reaction tyrosine is oxidized into DOPA by tyrosinase. Second, tyrosinase oxidizes DOPA to DOPAaquinone and the third reaction tyrosinase oxidizes DOPAquinone to DOPAchrome. The importance and meaning of the oxidation reactions is that DOPAchrome takes the position of a catalyst by DOPAchrome reacting to form melanin and the need catalyst is not …show more content…
Tyrosinase can be found in animals, fungus and plants, a malfunctioning tyrosinase enzyme in humans can cause albinism. (Staples, 71) Melanin is a pigment in our skin that protects us against the UV radiation from the sun, without it, it would lead to increase the risk of skin cancer. Tyrosine is an important enzyme as we can see so it’s just as important to learn and understand how it works. What is the ideal pH for its functionality? Is the activity of the enzyme affected by the temperature? Is tyrosinase identify by using electrophoresis? Hypothesis for the experiments are as follow: if tyrosinase is place in a pH of 6 will it continue to function normally and will light be absorbed at 475nm. If tyrosinase is put in a pH of 4 or 8 can the function be hindered if it’s not arrested completely? If tyrsosinase is placed in DOPA at three different heats (0, 37, 55 degrees) will it affects the activity of the enzyme. These hypotheses will be tested with the tyrosinase enzyme by measuring the product DOPAchrome in a spectrophotometer at 475nm wavelength, since that where