Biomolecules

Feedback inhibition or end product inhibition is the inhibition of the activity of an enzyme catalysing some early reactions of the series by the end product of the metabolic pathway.

For example, a substrate A is converted into a product F through B, C, D and E intermediate products. As the concentration of end product F increases, it diffuses to allosteric enzyme (E1 ) causing a reduced synthesis of the product B which in turn lowers the rate of enzymatic reactions in rest of the pathway.

ATP is a nucleotide as it is composed of adenine, ribose sugar and phosphoric acid. There are two additional phosphate groups attached to the phosphate group of AMP. The last two phosphate molecules are connected by high energy bonds.

All molecules require certain amount of energy for activation (to overcome energy barrier) before they can react. This energy is called activation energy. This energy is recovered when products are formed. The essence of an enzyme is its ability to speed up (catalyze) a reaction by making or breaking specific covalent bonds (bonds in which atoms are held together by sharing of electrons). Enzymes act by somehow lowering the temperature at which a given bond is unstable i.e., they speed up a reaction by lowering the activation energy. It is the magnitude of the activation energy which determines how fast the reaction will proceed.

Enzymes are absent in viruses because they are unable to transmit their nucleic acid from one host cell to another.