What is enzyme coupling?

Answer 1

Some enzyme-catalyzed reactions do not involve changes in substrates, products, or cofactors that have easily observable properties (e.g. changes in light absorbance, etc) for the measure of reaction kinetics. In such cases, additional enzymes may be included in the reaction mixture that catalyze a reaction using the product of the first enzymatic reaction as a substrate, metabolizing it to a compound that has more easily measurable properties. If this second reaction is much faster than the first, the kinetics of the overall path approximate the kinetics of the slower reaction alone. This technique can also be used to move spectral peaks of a substrate farther away from those of interfering species, such as peaks normally observed around 280 nm for proteins (due mostly to absorbances oftryptophan, tyrosine and cysteine residues)

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Answer 2

Enzyme coupling refers to the process where the product of one enzyme-catalyzed reaction serves as the substrate for another enzyme-catalyzed reaction. By linking these reactions together, the overall metabolic pathway can be more efficient and controlled. This allows cells to regulate the flow of biochemical reactions and optimize energy usage.