Enzyme

An enzyme is a biological catalyst, usually a protein, that accelerates a specific chemical reaction without being consumed in it.

Active site: The region of an enzyme where substrates bind and catalysis occurs. Its shape and chemical groups help determine which substrates the enzyme acts on.
Protein: A molecule made of one or more chains of amino acids folded into specific structures. Most enzymes are proteins whose folded structures create catalytic sites.
Metabolism: The interconnected set of chemical reactions that sustains life in an organism. Enzymes catalyze the reactions that build, break down, and transform cellular molecules.
Chemical catalyst: A substance that increases a chemical reaction rate without being consumed overall. Enzymes are biological catalysts, while chemical catalysts also include nonbiological materials.
Enzyme kinetics: The quantitative study of reaction rates catalyzed by enzymes and their dependence on conditions. Rate measurements reveal how efficiently an enzyme binds and converts its substrate.
Amino acid: An organic molecule containing amino and carboxyl groups; amino acids are the building blocks of proteins. Their varied side chains furnish the chemical groups that perform enzyme catalysis.
Digestive enzyme: An enzyme that breaks food molecules into smaller compounds during digestion. Digestive enzymes make dietary nutrients absorbable.
Ribozyme: An RNA molecule that catalyzes a chemical reaction. Ribozymes show that biological catalysis is not limited to proteins.
Michaelis–Menten kinetics: A model relating enzyme-catalyzed reaction rate to substrate concentration. This model describes a common pattern of enzyme saturation as substrate concentration rises.
Substrate (biochemistry): A molecule on which an enzyme acts, converting it into one or more products. Substrate binding initiates the reaction an enzyme catalyzes.

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