Proofreading/editing in protein synthesis is essential for accurate translation of information from the genetic code. In this article we present a theoretical investigation of efficiency of a kinetic proofreading mechanism that employs hydrolysis of the wrong substrate as the discriminatory step in enzyme catalytic reactions. We consider aminoacylation of tRNA(Ile) which is a crucial step in pr...

The enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose and lignocellulosic materials is marked by a rate decrease along the reaction time. Cellobiohydrolase slow dissociation from the substrate and its inhibition by the cellobiose produced are relevant factors associated to the rate decrease. In that sense, addition of β-glucosidases to the enzyme cocktails employed in cellulose enzymatic hydrolysis not only pr...

-The hydrolysis of several ring substituted methyl benzoates was investigated in aqueous solution over a pH range of 3-10. Both the pH dependence (at pH > 5) and the variation of hydrolysis rates with ring substitution are consistent with a mechanism involving the addition of hydroxide ion to the ester carbonyl group. Extrapolation of the rate data to a pH and temperature that would be consiste...

Hydrolytic editing activities are present in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases possessing reduced amino acid discrimination in the synthetic reactions. Post-transfer hydrolysis of misacylated tRNA in class I editing enzymes occurs in a spatially separate domain inserted into the catalytic Rossmann fold, but the location and mechanisms of pre-transfer hydrolysis of misactivated amino acids have been un...

RecA protein promotes a limited DNA strand exchange reaction, without ATP hydrolysis, that typically results in formation of short (1-2 kilobase pairs) regions of hybrid DNA. This nascent hybrid DNA is extended in a reaction that can be coupled to ATP hydrolysis. When ATP is hydrolyzed, the extension phase is progressive and its rate is 380 +/- 20 bp min-1 at 37 degrees C. A single RecA nucleop...

Hydrolytic editing activities are present in aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases possessing reduced amino acid discrimination in the synthetic reactions. Post-transfer hydrolysis of misacylated tRNA in class I editing enzymes occurs in a spatially separate domain inserted into the catalytic Rossmann fold, but the location and mechanisms of pre-transfer hydrolysis of misactivated amino acids have been un...

Ribosomes of streptomycin-resistant strains (&r-R) translate genetic messages with fewer errors than ribosomes of streptomycin-sensitive (S&S) strains. I have examined whether the increased level of tRNA discrimination by &r-R ribosomes, relative to Str-S ribosomes, occurs in an initial discrimination step before GTP hydrolysis during enzymatic tRNA binding, or in a second discrimination, or pr...

In general it is considered that conjugated estrogens are less active in vivo than the free form (1). This fact is attributed generally to the slow rate of hydrolysis of the conjugated form in the body or to an increased rate of excretion; however, it was shown recently (2) that pregnant and non-pregnant rats given S35-sodium estrone sulfate by subcutaneous injection rapidly excrete S35 as inor...

A truncated motor domain of the alpha subunit of Drosophila kinesin was obtained by expression in Escherichia coli and purified to homogeneity in the presence of MgATP. This domain (designated DKH340) extends from the N terminus to amino acid 340. The isolated protein contains a stoichiometric level of tightly bound ADP and has a low basal rate of ATP hydrolysis of 0.029 +/- 0.002 s-1 in the ab...

We introduce a new smooth, non-toxic, biocompatible method for cross-linking of gum tragacanth (GT), a polysaccharide of natural origin, in order to serve as a new supporting matrix for immobilization systems.  The modified gum is used as a matrix for the catalysis of the conversion of benzyl penicillin to 6-aminopenicillanic acid (6-APA) by means of Escherichia coli ATCC11105 with penicill...