Model

This model illustrates a standard enzyme reaction, together with a non-enzymatic, alternative reaction path. Most enzymes are proteins, and they increase the rate of reactions in organisms by lowering the activation energy required for the reaction. Without enzymes, some processes in the human body would take days, some even decades. Defective enzymes are linked to a number of different diseases and medical conditions such as lactose intolerance.

The example model consists of a two-pathway reaction model, an enzymatic and a non-enzymatic reaction. The enzymatic reaction by default has a rate one million times higher than the non-enzymatic one.

Simulation

Simulating the model will make it possible to see how the enzyme concentration affects the reaction rate.

Simulate the model by clicking the Simulate button:

If you want to see how a change in enzyme concentration, rate constant or anything else would affect the model, this is possible. To change the initial conditions, you can edit the values of Sc0, Pc0 and Ec0 n the Parameters tab to change the initial substrate, product or enzyme concentration. Modify the corresponding initial concentration or parameter that you would like to change and then click the Simulate button again.

Advanced

In the model, you can change how the enzyme complex is initialized. The default behavior is to initialize the enzyme complex with zero concentration. This corresponds to a situation were the enzyme and subtrate are quickly mixed together. By changing the enzymeInitialization parameter, you can force the concentrations to instead initialize in steady-state.

In order to get the full experience of this example, you need a desktop Wolfram Language product. A free trial download is available at www.wolfram.com/mathematica/trial/

For the full example, open the accompanying notebook EnzymeCatalysis.nb.