GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology : Enzymes

Study concepts, example questions & explanations for GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology

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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?

Possible Answers:

Isomerases

Ligases

Lyases

Transferases

Correct answer:

Ligases

Explanation:

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?

Possible Answers:

Lyase

Hydrolase

Oxidoreductase

Ligase

Correct answer:

Hydrolase

Explanation:

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?

Possible Answers:

Oxidoreductase

Isomerase

Lyase

Hydrolase

Correct answer:

Isomerase

Explanation:

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?

Possible Answers:

DNA methyltransferases

None of these

Histone acetyltransferases 

Pioneer transcription factors

Histone methyltransferases

Correct answer:

None of these

Explanation:

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?

Possible Answers:

Polymerases 

Ligases 

Acetylases

Topoisomerases 

Methylases 

Correct answer:

Acetylases

Explanation:

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)?

Possible Answers:

Kinases

Phospholipases

Migratases

Floppases

Flippases

Correct answer:

Flippases

Explanation:

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?

Possible Answers:

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

Correct answer:

The non-covalent binding of cAMP somewhere other than the active site

Explanation:

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?

Possible Answers:

Competitive inhibition

Uncompetitive inhibition

Suicide inhibition

Noncompetitive inhibition

Correct answer:

Competitive inhibition

Explanation:

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.

Possible Answers:

non-competitive . . . larger

non-competitive . . . smaller

competitive . . . larger

competitive . . . smaller

Correct answer:

competitive . . . larger

Explanation:

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

Possible Answers:

II only

I only

I and II

I, II, and III

Correct answer:

I and II

Explanation:

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. 

All GRE Subject Test: Biochemistry, Cell, and Molecular Biology Resources

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