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Do these results make sense

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funboy:
I conducted an experiment where I needed to determin the effects of temperature, pH, alcohol and saline solutions on the enzyme peroxidase.

I found that at room temperature
hydrogen peroxide (a strong acid) had an aggressive reaction with peroxidase (potatoe soaked in water for 3 mins then patted dry)
Acetic acid (a weak acid) reacted mildly with the peroxidase
Isopropyl Alcohol (pH7) reacted mildly with the peroxidase
NaCl (ph7 saline solution) reacted less than mildly with peroxidase
NaOH (strong base) next to no reaction
HCl (strong acid) next to no reaction

At 10C
only hydrogen peroxide reacted, nothing else reacted

Is this expected??

lavoisier:
Hi funboy,
what are you exactly trying to verify by this experiment?
I don't really get what you mean with 'reacts' or 'doesn't react' when one reagent is a simple chemical and the other is a very complex protein. How do you determine if the two species react?

I'm not a biologist, but I'd say that you should measure the enzymatic activity of your enzyme in the presence of some substances and/or at different temperatures.

Borek:

--- Quote from: funboy on January 04, 2007, 01:59:20 PM ---hydrogen peroxide (a strong acid)
--- End quote ---

Hydrogen peroxide is not a strong acid. Please post the procedure as you are probably misinterpreting something.

Yggdrasil:
Peroxidase is an enzyme which catalyzes the reaction:

2 H2O2 --> 2 H2O + O2

So, to determine the effects of different substances on the activity of peroxidase, you need to monitor the rate of the above reaction.  Substances with inhibit the activity of peroxidase will decrease its ability to catalyze the above reaction.

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