Page 192 - The Manga Guide to Biochemistry

Maximum reaction rate The ability of an enzyme to
act on the substrate to
Enzyme
power! create the reaction product
is called enzyme activity.
Substrate
Reaction The speed of this
product reaction is called
the reaction rate.

Enzyme activity

Measuring this “activity” And taking these Oh no...
is vital for checking measurements can be tricky?!
the properties of an
enzyme. a little bit tricky.

Relax, you’ll be fine as long The maximum reaction rate is the
as you’re careful. There are speed of the reaction when each

two key concepts here: of the enzymes in the reaction
solution is combined with a
u Maximum reaction rate
v Michaelis constant substrate. In other words, it’s
the reaction’s speed when all of

the enzymes are working.

This is represented
by Vmax.*

178 Chapter 4 Wha-what?

I’m completely
lost...

* The V stands for “velocity,” which is just
another word for “rate.”