My bio teacher gave us a hint that it’s related to the purpose of the stomach. I already know that it can’t function in an acidic environment, now I just need to explain why it can function in an alkaline (base) environment. Thanks!
In: Biology
pH 7-11 is a huge range. Because pH is log scale 11 is 10000x more basic than 7, which seems kind of unreasonable for the optimal range of an enzyme. That’s huge.
But catalase is found mostly in the liver. Liver cells have a pretty much neutral pH of 7. Blood is expected to have a pH of 7.4 which is slightly basic, so it makes sense that the range of catalase leans more towards neutral-basic than neutral-acidic
Catalase is an enzyme that breaks down hydrogen peroxide, a natural toxic product of bodily catabolism. Because it converts peroxide to water and oxygen, it must be able to work in a majority of the body’s cells. Since the body is mostly aqueous and water has a pH of 7, catalase’s optimal range will be 7 and more basic. Acidity will denature the enzyme.
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