All GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology Resources
Example Questions
Example Question #1 : Help With Enzyme Types
Which of the following types of enzymes is responsible for joining molecules by forming new chemical bonds?
Isomerases
Ligases
Lyases
Transferases
Ligases
Ligases are enzymes that catalyze the formation of new bonds between molecules. A classic example is DNA ligase, an enzyme that synthesizes phosphodiester bonds in the DNA backbone.
Transferases move small molecules from one molecule to another, sometimes altering the functional groups of a compound. Isomerases convert molecules from one isomer to another. Lyases are enzymes that break bonds through a means other than hydrolysis (typically by formation of a double bond).
Example Question #12 : Enzyme Principles
Chymostrypsin cleaves a polypeptide into two smaller subunits by using water in order to make the new amino and carboxyl termini. Based on this mechanism, what type of enzyme is chymostrypsin?
Lyase
Hydrolase
Oxidoreductase
Ligase
Hydrolase
Since chymotrypsin uses a water molecule in order to cleave the polymer, it is considered a hydrolase enzyme.
Example Question #2 : Help With Enzyme Types
During glycolysis, glucose-6-phospate is rearranged in order to form fructose-6 phosphate. The enzyme that accomplishes this does not change the intermediate's chemical formula in any way, but simply alters the shape of the molecule.
Based on this action, what type of enzyme is involved in this step in glycolysis?
Oxidoreductase
Isomerase
Lyase
Hydrolase
Isomerase
Since the enzyme has changed the shape of the molecule without altering its chemical formula, the enzyme has simply made a new isomer of the molecule. This action is accomplished by isomerase enzymes.
Example Question #1 : Help With Enzyme Types
Which of the following is not a class of enzymes that alter epigenetic states?
DNA methyltransferases
None of these
Histone acetyltransferases
Pioneer transcription factors
Histone methyltransferases
None of these
All answer choices fit the description. Epigenetics (above the gene) are heritable modifications of chromatin and DNA that affect gene expression. Pioneer transcription factors are able to bind DNA in heterochromatin and recruit enzymes that promote euchromatin formation which allows other transcription factors to bind and effect gene expression. Histone methyltransferases and acetyltransferases methylate and acetylate histones, respectively, to alter gene expression. DNA methyltransferases are also enzymes that confer epigenetic changes to DNA by methylation, which usually represses gene expression.
Example Question #4 : Help With Enzyme Types
Which of the following are not enzymes that act on DNA?
Polymerases
Ligases
Acetylases
Topoisomerases
Methylases
Acetylases
The correct answer is acetylases. DNA can be directly methylated by methylases, mended during DNA repair by ligases, uncoiled by topoisomerases, and replicated by polymerases. However, DNA cannot be acetylated. Epigenetic associated-acetylation occurs only on histones to determine the chromatin state of a specific region.
Example Question #5 : Help With Enzyme Types
What is the name of the class of enzymes that permit a phospholipid in the cellular membrane to move from facing the exoplasm (outside of the cell) to the cytosol (cellular interior)?
Kinases
Phospholipases
Migratases
Floppases
Flippases
Flippases
Flippases use ATP to permit membrane lipids to reorient themselves in the cellular membrane, specifically in the direction from extracellular to intracellular facing. Floppases catalyze the reverse movement: intracellular to extracellular. Migratases are not a class of enzyme. Phospholipases and kinases catalyze other types of reactions and certainly can act on lipids, but not this particular lipid movement.
Example Question #1 : Enzyme Regulation
Which of the following is an example of allosteric regulation of enzymes?
Phosphorylation of an amino acid in the active site
Phosphorylation of an amino acid somewhere other than the active site
The non-covalent binding of cAMP somewhere other than the active site
The non-covalent binding of cAMP to the active site
The non-covalent binding of cAMP somewhere other than the active site
The difference between the binding of cAMP and phosphorylation is that the latter is a covalent modification. Covalent modifications are a different way to regulate proteins, and do not fall under the category of allosteric regulation. Allosteric regulation only occurs outside of the active site, often simply called an allosteric site. The non-covalent binding of cAMP to a region of an enzyme outside of the active site thus qualifies as allosteric regulation.
Example Question #1 : Help With Inhibitors
A researcher has designed a new type of inhibitor that binds at the active site of an enzyme. What type of inhibition does this molecule display?
Competitive inhibition
Uncompetitive inhibition
Suicide inhibition
Noncompetitive inhibition
Competitive inhibition
Because the inhibitor binds at the active site, it is actively competing with the ligand for access to the enzyme. This type of inhibitor displays competitive inhibition. Competitive inhibition can be overcome by adding excessive amounts of substrate. If the amount of substrate greatly out-measures the amount of inhibitor, then the substrate will still bind the enzyme very frequently and allow the reaction to proceed.
Noncompetitive inhibitors bind an enzyme at a spot that is not the active site. Uncompetitive inhibitors bind the enzyme-substrate complex, once the substrate has already entered the active site. Suicide inhibitors "kill" enzymes, typically by making permanent modifications to amino acids in the active site.
Example Question #61 : Biochemistry
On a Lineweaver-Burk plot, an inhibited enzyme is shown to have a less negative x-intercept than the uninhibited enzyme, but the y-intercept remains the same. The type of inhibition displayed is __________ and the inhibited reaction has a __________ value.
non-competitive . . . larger
non-competitive . . . smaller
competitive . . . larger
competitive . . . smaller
competitive . . . larger
The x-intercept on a Lineweaver-Burk plot tells us the negative reciprocal of .
Because the x-intercept is less negative, this tells us that the inhibited reaction has a larger . Having a different x-intercept but the same y-intercept is characteristic of competitive inhibition. The inhibitor and the substrate are competing for the same binding site.
Example Question #2 : Enzyme Regulation
Which of the following choices describes a way to graphically determine the type of inhibition being displayed by an inhibitor?
I. Plot initial reaction rate versus the concentration of substrate for the uninhibited enzyme, and then compare to the inhibited enzyme
II. Plot the inverse of the initial reaction rate versus the inverse of the substrate concentration for the uninhibited enzyme, and then compare to the inhibited enzyme
III. Plot the concentration of the inhibitor versus the concentration of substrate
II only
I only
I and II
I, II, and III
I and II
Plotting the concentration of the inhibitor versus the concentration of the substrate will not give you any useful information because the reaction rate is essential in determining the type of inhibitor present.
Plotting initial reaction rate versus substrate concentration, or plotting the inverses, describes the graphical representation of Michaelis-Menten kinetics and a Lineweaver-Burk plot, respectively. Both of these are excellent methods to visually determine the type of inhibition displayed. On the graph, the line representing the inhibited enzyme will shift in predictable fashions depending on the type of inhibition.
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