Answer to Question #33803 in Biochemistry for Sumit

Question

An enzyme completely complementary to its substrate would be a very poor enzyme. - Explain why?

Answer 1

Such an enzyme impedes the reaction, stabilizing the substrate instead. When the enzyme is complementary to the substrate the ES(enzyme-substrate) complex is more stable and has less free energy in theground state than substrate alone. The result is an increase in the activation energy.