Lactase Enzyme

Activity with Data

Analysis
Simulation at jondarkow.com

Pre-Lab

1. Define the following and explain how each relates to the lactase chemical reaction.
➔ Enzyme:
are proteins that act as a biological catalyst that speed up specific chemical reactions (anabolic or
catabolic)

➔ Substrate
Is what binds with the enzyme that transform to a product

➔ Active site
Is the place in the enzyme where de enzyme and the substrate bind

➔ Rate of reaction
The amount of product produce over an specific amount of time

➔ Activation Energy
The amount of necessary energy to make the reaction to occur, were the enzyme helps to use
less energy

2. What is the chemical reaction that lactase catalyzes?

It is the break-down of lactose into galactose and glucose. This process take place because of
enzymes and hydrolysis

3. Why would having the enzyme lactase as an adult be an evolutionary advantage?

This would be an evolutionary benefit since the adult would be able to eat dairy without becoming
ill, giving them a better chance of survival.

4. Explain how the structure of an enzyme relates to how well the function catalyzes chemical reactions.
The right substrate can enter the active site thanks to the structure of an enzyme. Since the
substrate won't bind if the enzyme is blocked, it cannot catalyze processes. Enzymes may
somewhat alter their shape to match the substrate (induced fit), and because of how well they fit
the substrate, they can catalyze processes more quickly.
Simulation Option 1: Temperature
1. Start with the initial lactose at 500 mg/dL and the pH at 7. Do not vary these parameters while testing
for temperature, they are environmental controls. The temperature is in degrees Celsius.
Be sure to show the instructor your method for calculating the rate of reaction for the first 3
minutes before going on. The units should be mg/dL glucose per minute.
Vary the temperature by 20oC. Run each experiment 5 times (for reliability in the results.) Record the rate
of reaction in the table below. The rate of reaction should be in mg/dL of glucose per minute.

0oC 20oC 40oC 60oC 80oC

Trial 1 0 478 497 118 0
Trial 2 0 481 495 134 0
Trial 3 0 483 497 135 0
Trial 4 0 487 497 139 0
Trial 5 0 473 495 128 0
Mean 0 480,4 496,2 130,8 0
Standard 0 5,272570531 1,095445115 8,167006796 0
Deviation

2. On the axes provided, create an appropriately labeled graph to illustrate the sample means of the five
temperatures tested to within 95% confidence (i.e., the sample mean ± 2 SEM).

3. What are the results of the simulation? What is the optimal temperature? Is there statistical
significance? Explain.

The results of this experiment show that depending on temperature the catalytic reactions are
affected. It can be evidenced that the enzymes react with each other by the kinetic energy that
moves more, therefore the more temperature they move more, therefore they have more
 possibility to collide. However, when the temperature begins to rise too high, the emzyme can
denature the protein. The optimal temperature is 40

4. Explain why your results of the optimal temperature of the lactase enzyme make sense for the human
enzyme? Explain the results in terms of the structure and function of proteins.

That the optimal operating point of an enzyme is around 30 degrees Celsius is positive because it
is the average temperature of the body, therefore in normal basin it could receive the most
benefits from the enzymes.

5. Propose an appropriate control treatment for the experiment, and describe how the control treatment
would increase the validity of the results.

Making ensuring the pH, beginning glucose concentration, initial enzyme concentration, salinity,
and pressure are all constant would provide for an adequate control group for the experiment. By
ensuring that no other environmental change occurred just a change in temperature, this would
strengthen the validity of the findings. Additionally, it ensures that the only factor influencing
response rate is temperature.

6. Predict how milk digestion is affected in individuals that lack functional copies of the gene encoding
lactase. Justify your response.

Those people would digest milk considerably more slowly since lactase isn't there to activate the
process. The milk would still be digested, but it would take a very long time since there wouldn't
be any enzymes to lower the activation energy and catalyze the reaction as the main function of
enzymes is to speed up reactions.
Simulation Option 2: pH
1. Start with the initial lactose at 500 mg/dL and the temperature at 25 degrees Celsius. Do not vary
these parameters while testing for pH, they are environmental controls.
Be sure to show the instructor your method for calculating the rate of reaction for the first 3
minutes before going on. The units should be mg/dL glucose per minute.
Vary by a pH of 3. Run each experiment 5 times (for reliability in the results.) Record the rate of reaction
in the table below. The rate of reaction should be in mg/dL of glucose per minute.
pH 1 4 7 10 13
Trial 1 0 233 493 96.9 6,13

Trial 2 0 229 493 123 4,79

Trial 3 0 200 491 138 5,17

Trial 4 0 269 493 129 6,02

Trial 5 0 257 495 133 6,02

Mean 0 237,6 493 130,75 5,626

Standard
Deviation 0 5,272570531 1,095445115 8,167006796 0
Standard Error of 0 2,357965225 0,4898979486 3,652396474 0
the Mean (SEM)
2. On the axes provide, create an appropriately labeled graph to illustrate the sample means of
the five pH levels tested to within 95% confidence (i.e., sample mean ± 2 SEM).

4. Explain why your results of the optimal pH of the lactase enzyme make sense for the human enzyme?
Explain the results in terms of the structure and function of proteins.
 That the optimum pH of 7 makes sense because the body's pH is around pH 7, and also the pH
of milk is 7, which means that the enzyme will work in a better way if it is in these conditions.

5. Propose an appropriate control treatment for the experiment, and describe how the control treatment
would increase the validity of the results.
An appropriate treatment of the experiment will be to use a correct control treatment, for example,
a good control would be to limit and make the rest of the variables stable. That is to say that each
experiment is done under the same external conditions, such as temperature. Therefore, if all
factors external to the pH are controlled, the feasibility of the experiment increases because there
is no longer anything else that would influence the reaction.

6. Predict how the milk digestion is affected in individuals that lack functional copies of the gene
encoding lactase. Justify your response.
Milk digestion would be more slower in those people since lactase is not there to catalyze the
process. In this instance, enzymes would denature at a specific pH, implying that the pH cannot
be too high or too low, or the enzyme's function would be compromised.
 References

Question 3-7 are adapted from The College Board. College Board, Advanced Placement

Program, AP, AP Central, and the acorn logo are registered trademarks of the College Board.

Visit the College Board on the Web: www.collegeboard.org.