Question

Coenzyme is
(a) Organic non-proteinaceous group that is essential for enzyme activity
(b) Organic or inorganic group that is essential for enzyme activity
(c) The Same enzyme found in different tissues or organs
(d) One that shares the function of other enzymes

Answer 1

Hint: A type of cofactor which is also a non-protein organic compound that occurs during catalysis performs the function of enzymes.

Complete answer:
Coenzymes are organic compounds but their association is translucent with apoenzyme. They occur during the time of catalysis. Coenzymes can also act as cofactors in the number of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. It shares the function of other enzymes. Vitamins are the essential components of many coenzymes. eg., vitamin niacin is present in both nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide and NADP which are coenzymes.

Additional information:
- In enzymes, one or several polypeptide chains are present. However, there are several cases in which a non-protein constitution called cofactors are bound to the enzyme to make the enzyme catalytically active.
- Enzyme contains proteins, and that part of the protein is called apoenzyme.
- There are three types of cofactors namely prosthetic groups, coenzymes, and metal ions
- The organic compounds that are distinguished from other cofactors that are tightly bound to the apoenzyme.
- The organic compounds which are non-protein compounds that share the function of other enzymes are coenzymes. They serve as co-factors in several different enzymes catalyzed reactions
- Metal ions are required for the activation of many enzymes. They form coordination bonds with side chains at the site and at the same time from one or more coordination bonds with the substrate.
So, the correct answer is '(d) One that shares the function of other enzymes'.

Note: When the cofactor is removed from the enzyme, its catalytic activity is lost. This shows that cofactors play an important role in the catalytic activity of the enzyme.
- For proteolytic enzyme carboxypeptidase, zinc acts as a cofactor which is an example for metal ions as cofactors
- Breakdown of hydrogen peroxide to water and oxygen is catalyzed by peroxidase and catalase, here haem act as a prosthetic group.