Biochemistry 4th Edition by Christopher Mathews,Kensal van Holde, Dean Appling, Spencer Anthony Cahill

Exercise 4

An enzyme contains an active site aspartic acid with a pK a = 5.0, which acts as a general acid catalyst. On the template below, draw the curve of enzyme activity (reaction rate) vs. pH for the enzyme (assume the protein is stably folded between pH₂-12 and that the active site Asp is the only ionizable residue involved in catalysis). Briefly explain the shape of your curve.