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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
- Mass or weight of liver used in each test tube.
- Temperature at which the test tubes are maintained (37°C). Alternatively, the pH of the solution or the volume of alcohol can also be mentioned.
Step 2
Step 3
Construct a line graph to show the data in the table.
Answer
The line graph should include:
- X-axis representing the inhibitor concentration (mM).
- Y-axis representing the final alcohol concentration (% of initial). Make sure to plot the data points correctly and draw a line connecting them.
Step 4
Use the data to describe the relationship between the concentration of inhibitor and enzyme activity.
Answer
As the concentration of the inhibitor increases, the enzyme activity decreases. The graph indicates that beyond an inhibitor concentration of 4.5 mM, the enzyme activity plateaus, suggesting that the inhibitor's effect saturates and enzyme activity stops or remains constant.
Step 5
Suggest how the results would confirm that the inhibitor was non-competitive.
Answer
In the second experiment, if increasing the concentration of alcohol does not increase enzyme activity even in the presence of the non-competitive inhibitor, it would confirm that the inhibitor does not compete with the substrate for the active site, as the activity remains unchanged regardless of the substrate concentration.