Between 1930 and 1975 biochemical and structural analysis of enzymes led to a clear set of ideas that might form a basis for detailed understanding of enzyme action. Further development required energetic and thermodynamic analysis of enzymes in an aqueous medium, beyond the computational power then available. Structural enzymology advanced in other directions, but the fundamental questions of ...

The concurrent effects of two enzyme inhibitors have been analysed previously with the Yonetani-Theorell plot to obtain insight into the interactions between bound inhibitors. This procedure, like many other traditional graphical methods in enzymology, is based on the estimation of intersecting tendencies in a family of lines. In a recent paper from this laboratory [Chan (1995) Biochem. J. 311,...

The halogenases are a group of enzymes that have only come to the fore over the last 10 years thanks to the discovery and characterization of several novel representatives. They have revealed the fascinating variety of distinct chemical mechanisms that nature utilizes to activate halogens and introduce them into organic substrates. Computational studies using a range of approaches have already ...

Now, more than ever, enzymology and its development can be considered of vital importance to the progression of the biological sciences. With an increase in the numbers of enzymes being identified from genomic studies, enzymology is key to defining the structural and functional properties of these enzymes in order to establish their mechanisms of action and how they fit into metabolic networks....

One of the most intriguing questions in modern enzymology is whether enzyme dynamics evolved to enhance the catalyzed chemical transformation. In this study, dihydrofolate reductase, a small monomeric protein that catalyzes a single C-H-C transfer, is used as a model system to address this question. Experimental and computational studies have proposed a dynamic network that includes two residue...

organophosphorus compounds are highly toxic chemicals that have application in production of warfare agents and agricultural pesticides. detoxification of areas that have been exposed to these types of materials is of vital importance and several approaches have been used for this purpose. biodegradation of organophosphates is one of these approaches that is in the center of attention due to it...

Enzymes are remarkable catalysts that lie at the heart of biology, accelerating chemical reactions to an astounding extent with extraordinary specificity. Enormous progress in understanding the chemical basis of enzymatic transformations and the basic mechanisms underlying rate enhancements over the past decades is apparent. Nevertheless, it has been difficult to achieve a quantitative understa...

Life as we know it heavily relies on biological catalysis, in fact, in a very nonromantic version of it, life could be considered as a series of chemical reactions, regulated by the guarding principles of thermodynamics. In ancient times, a beating heart was a good sign of vitality, however, to me, it is actually the presence of active enzymes that counts… Though we do not usually pay attention...