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A 21st century revisionist's view at a turning point in enzymology

Nature Chemical Biology volume 5, pages 543–550 (2009)Cite this article

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 01 September 2009

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Abstract

Despite the fact that the number of publications associated with the keyword 'enzyme' increases every year, the precise origin of enzyme catalysis has remained unresolved. Because of sustained intensive research efforts from an increasing number of laboratories, detailed information regarding the physics, chemistry and kinetics of enzymes is accumulating rapidly. The growing body of data contains many examples of kinetic behavior that are incompatible with a static view of enzyme catalysis. As a result, numerous laboratories are approaching the consensus that protein motion plays an essential role in enzyme catalysis. A model that incorporates nuclear quantum tunneling together with two classes of protein motion—termed conformational sampling (pre-organization) and reorganization—is recommended as a means of understanding the large body of data for enzyme-catalyzed hydrogen transfers. It should also serve as a vehicle for future efforts in the development of potent enzyme inhibitors and the de novo design of all classifications of enzymes.

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Figure 1: An Arrhenius plot shows the temperature dependence of a simulated hydrogen transfer reaction.
Figure 2: A basic representation of the tunneling phenomenon is illustrated.
Figure 3: A full tunneling model for hydrogen transfer is represented.
Figure 4: Impact of pre-organization on reorganization.

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  • 20 July 2009

    In the version of this article initially published, in the first line on the right hand column of Box 2, the sentence began "The distance ro...," whereas it should read "The tunneling distance...." Also, reference 47 was omitted from the end of the second to last sentence of the legend of Figure 3. These errors have been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.

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  1. Zachary D. Nagel is in the Department of Chemistry and Judith P. Klinman is in the Department of Chemistry and Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, Berkeley, California, USA.,

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Nagel, Z., Klinman, J. A 21st century revisionist's view at a turning point in enzymology. Nat Chem Biol 5, 543–550 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1038/nchembio.204

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