Without enzyme, how hot would body need to be?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the hypothetical temperature required for the human body to sustain metabolic reactions without the presence of enzymes. Participants explore the implications of enzyme absence on biochemical processes and the nature of catalysis.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Debate/contested
  • Technical explanation

Main Points Raised

  • One participant queries the temperature needed for metabolism without catalysts, seeking an order of magnitude estimate.
  • Another participant challenges the assumption that metabolic reactions would occur similarly without enzymes, suggesting this may not be valid.
  • Questions arise regarding whether sufficient activation energy alone is enough to initiate reactions without enzymes, with considerations of orientation and other factors influencing reaction rates.
  • It is noted that catalysis may not solely function by lowering activation energy, as other factors like acidity could also play significant roles.
  • Specificity of enzymes is highlighted as crucial for certain biochemical processes, with examples provided, such as ATP phosphorylation, which would not occur effectively without enzymes.
  • A participant emphasizes that without enzyme specificity, life as we know it would be impossible, leading to chaotic reactions instead of regulated processes.
  • One participant expresses a desire to learn more about enzyme specificity following the discussion.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants do not reach a consensus on the implications of enzyme absence, with multiple competing views on the role of enzymes in metabolic processes and the nature of catalysis remaining evident throughout the discussion.

Contextual Notes

The discussion reflects uncertainties regarding the assumptions about metabolic reactions without enzymes and the specific conditions under which these reactions might occur. Limitations in understanding the full scope of enzyme functions and their specificity are also noted.

mishima
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What temperature would the human body need to be in order to sustain all necessary metabolism reactions in the absence of a catalyst? I know this is unreal, I am just curious of an order of magnitude estimate.
 
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You are assuming that the same or similar metabolic reactions would take place without enzymes. This may not be a valid assumption, no matter how much hotter the body got.
 
Are you saying that for some biochemical processes, simply having 2 reactants (substrates) collide with sufficient activation energy is NOT enough to start a reaction? Could this be because an enzyme combines the 2 in a way (an orientation) that is very unlikely to occur in a random collision, or is there something else?
 
mishima said:
Are you saying that for some biochemical processes, simply having 2 reactants (substrates) collide with sufficient activation energy is NOT enough to start a reaction? Could this be because an enzyme combines the 2 in a way (an orientation) that is very unlikely to occur in a random collision, or is there something else?

All I'm saying is that catalysis doesn't always work by reducing the activation energy for a given reaction. Other factors, like acidity or alkalinity, which do not depend on temperature, may be significant in whether a certain catalyst will be effective at increasing reaction rates.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catalysis
 
There are also cases where enzymes are important for their specificity in addition for their ability to perform catalysis. For example, many signalling processes within the cell are regulated by the transfer of a phosphate from ATP to a specific residue on a protein. If this process were occurring thermally, transfer of the phosphate from ATP to water would be the dominant reaction, so protein phosphorylation would almost never occur.

Furthermore, some essential metabolic reactions in the cell require enzymes. A good example is the synthesis of ATP from ADP and phosphate by ATP synthase. This reaction requires an enzyme in order to couple the energy from an electrochemical gradient to the thermodynamically unfavorable synthesis of ATP.
 
Agree with Ygggdrasil but would put it still more strongly: without the specificity properties of enzymes life is surely impossible and unimaginable. You could have reactions with unspecific catalysts but they would just be a mess, everything would degrade - in particular the example he gives phosphates would just transfer to water instead of being channeled (albeit everything obey thermodynamics and free energy decrease) to phosphorylation of other things, an example of the coupling of reactions that is really everything in biochemistry.
 
Hmm, alright thanks guess I need to read more on this specificity property, thanks for the eye opener.
 

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