Friday, March 11, 2011

Human blood contains an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase that catalyzes the hydration of dissolved CO2?

Human blood contains an enzyme called carbonic anhydrase that catalyzes the hydration of dissolved CO2 and the formation of HCO3-. Its Michaelis-Menten constants are k2 = 6 x 105 s-1 and KM = 8 x 10-3 M. If the concentration of unhydrated CO2 is 0.10 M, would the hydration reaction be first –order or zero-order in unhydrated CO2? How long would it take to hydrate 50% of the dissolved CO2 if the enzyme concentration is 1.0 x 10-6 M? (Note: The uncatalyzed half-life for the hydration of dissolved CO2 at pH = 7 is about 10 s. This is too slow to support respiration, and so the enzyme is necessary.)

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