Labs on Chip

2.5    ENZYMATIC CATALYSIS

As anticipated in Section 2.3.2, the mechanism nature used to accelerate complex biochemical reactions is catalysis via a class of specifically structured proteins called enzymes [24,25,50]. A very large number of enzymes have been studied both for research and for their relevance in analytic procedures and in medical treatment of diseases, but all acts on the ground of a general mechanism.

2.5.1    THE BASIC PRINCIPLE OF ENZYMES WORKING

As detailed in Sections 1.2.4 and 1.2.5, all chemical reactions transit through transition states or intermediate states. It is important here to distinguish transition states from intermediate states.

A transition state is envisioned as an extreme distortion of a bond, and thus the ...