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In biochemistry, denaturation is a process in which proteins or nucleic acids lose folded structure present in their native state due to various factors, including application of some external stress or compound, such as a strong acid or base, a concentrated inorganic salt, an organic solvent (e.g., alcohol or chloroform), agitation and radiation, or heat. [3]
Plasmolysis is the contraction of cells within plants due to the loss of water through osmosis. In a hypertonic environment, the cell membrane peels off the cell wall and the vacuole collapses. These cells will eventually wilt and die unless the flow of water caused by osmosis can stop the contraction of the cell membrane. [5]
The reversible phosphorylation-dephosphorylation reaction occurs in every physiological process, making proper function of protein phosphatases necessary for organism viability. Because protein dephosphorylation is a key process involved in cell signalling , [ 1 ] protein phosphatases are implicated in conditions such as cardiac disease ...
This enables proteins to stay inbound within a cell since the negative phosphorylated site disallows their permeability through the cellular membrane. Protein dephosphorylation allows the cell to replenish phosphates through release of pyrophosphates which saves ATP use in the cell. [55] An example of phosphorylating enzyme is found in E. coli ...
Usually hydrolysis is a chemical process in which a molecule of water is added to a substance. Sometimes this addition causes both the substance and water molecule to split into two parts. In such reactions, one fragment of the target molecule (or parent molecule) gains a hydrogen ion. It breaks a chemical bond in the compound.
The DNA helicase and associated enzymes are now able to bind to the unwound region, creating a replication fork start. The unwinding of this duplex strand region is associated with a low free energy requirement, due to helical instability caused by specific base-stacking interactions, in combination with counteracting supercoiling.
The equivalent process in animal cells is called crenation. The liquid content of the cell leaks out due to exosmosis. The cell collapses, and the cell membrane pulls away from the cell wall (in plants). Most animal cells consist of only a phospholipid bilayer (plasma membrane) and not a cell wall, therefore shrinking up under such conditions.
Allosteric modification usually happens in proteins with more than one subunit. Allosteric interactions are often present in metabolic pathways and are beneficial in that they allow one step of a reaction to regulate another step. [19] They allow an enzyme to have a range of molecular interactions, other than the highly specific active site. [19]