Enzymes are biological catalysts made of proteins that speed up chemical reactions without being used up. They have an active site that binds to a specific substrate molecule. The shape of the enzyme is critical to its function, as it can only work on substrates that fit into its active site. An enzyme's activity is affected by temperature and pH - it works best at its optimum temperature and pH, and is deactivated, or denatured, at extremes. The concentration of both enzymes and substrates affects the reaction rate, with higher concentrations speeding things up to a point.