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An investigation was carried out into the effect of inhibitor concentration on the activity of an enzyme which breaks down alcohol in liver cells - Scottish Highers Human Biology - Question 2 - 2018
Question 2
An investigation was carried out into the effect of inhibitor concentration on the activity of an enzyme which breaks down alcohol in liver cells. Six test tubes we... show full transcript
Worked Solution & Example Answer:An investigation was carried out into the effect of inhibitor concentration on the activity of an enzyme which breaks down alcohol in liver cells - Scottish Highers Human Biology - Question 2 - 2018
Step 1
State two variables, not already mentioned, which should be kept constant to make this investigation valid.
Answer
To ensure the validity of the investigation, two variables that should be kept constant are:
- The volume of liver used in each test tube.
- The temperature at which the experiment is conducted, which should remain at 37°C.
Step 2
Step 3
Use the data to describe the relationship between the concentration of inhibitor and enzyme activity.
Answer
The data shows that as the concentration of the inhibitor increases, the enzyme activity decreases. At low inhibitor concentrations (e.g., 0.5 mM), the final alcohol concentration is significantly reduced to 20%. However, as the inhibitor concentration reaches 4.5 mM, the alcohol concentration levels off at 100%, indicating that the enzyme's activity can be significantly inhibited but does not drop below a certain level when the inhibitor concentration is high enough.
Step 4
Suggest how the results would confirm the inhibitor was non-competitive.
Answer
The results from the second experiment would confirm non-competitiveness if varying the concentration of alcohol does not affect the rate of enzyme inhibition by the non-competitive inhibitor. Even at high alcohol concentrations, if enzyme activity does not increase, it would indicate that the inhibitor can still bind to the enzyme irrespective of the substrate concentration.