act upon vs affect

act upon is not a noun while affect is a noun.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
act upon	No	No	Yes	No
affect	Yes	No	Yes	No

As verbs, affect is a hypernym of act upon; that is, affect is a word with a broader meaning than act upon:

Other hypernyms of act upon include bear on, bear upon, impact, touch, touch on.

act upon (noun)	affect (noun)
	the conscious subjective aspect of feeling or emotion

act upon (verb)	affect (verb)
have and exert influence or effect	act physically on; have an effect upon
	have an effect upon
	make believe with the intent to deceive
	have an emotional or cognitive impact upon
	connect closely and often incriminatingly