Question

When taking an antacid tablet, which of the following enzyme-substrate pairs is most affected by the subsequent change in $$\text{pH}$$ that takes place in the stomach?
A. Maltose-maltose
B. Lipase-lipids
C. Amylase-disaccharides
D. Pepsin-proteins
E. Nuclease-nucleic acids

Answer 1

Hint: Antacid is a combination of two antacid it is used for the neutralization process. Different types of enzymes are activated at different $$\text{pH}$$ conditions. These enzymes are crucial in carrying out important functions in our body..

Complete step by step answer:
Enzymes are biological catalysts that affect the speed of various chemical processes in our body. The working of an enzyme can be defined by pointing out the example of a lock and key. We know that a lock can be unlocked only by using a particular key. Similarly, one enzyme catalyses only a particular process. Enzymes actually provide a suitable surface for the substrate to carry out the process by forming an enzyme-substrate complex. This is accomplished by the cavities present in their structures. Only one particular substrate gets fitted into the cavity of a particular enzyme and the enzyme gets activated only when certain conditions like $$\text{pH}$$ etc. becomes favourable. After the successful completion of the process, the substrate is detached from the enzyme surface. The whole process can be shown as;
$\text{ E}\text{(}Enzyme)\text{ + }\text{ S}\text{(}Substrate)\to \text{ ES}\text{(}Enzyme-SubstrateComplex)\to \text{ E}\text{(}Enzyme)\text{ + }\text{ S}\text{(}Substrate)$
In our stomach, protein digestion is carried out by an enzyme called pepsinogen. We know that we take an antacid in order to reduce the $$\text{pH}$$ in the stomach. This enzyme pepsinogen is only activated at low $$\text{pH}$$ only. At low $$\text{pH}$$, it gets activated into pepsin which breaks down proteins into amino acids. At high $$\text{pH}$$, we are facing the problem of acidity and here the enzyme is inactive and protein digestion will not occur in the stomach. Thus, the decrease in $$\text{pH}$$ affects the enzyme-substrate pair, pepsin-proteins, when the $$\text{pH}$$ is low in the stomach.

So, the correct answer is Option D.

Note: Catalysts always increase the rate of a reaction. They do so without actually undergoing the reaction.
Enzymes are essential for different chemical processes carried out in the body. Deficiency of enzymes can also cause many diseases. The most important digestive system is pepsin. It creates the lining of the digestive system and it breaks down protein into smaller molecules to help the digestion.