In this tutorial review we show how the methods and techniques of computational chemistry have been applied to the understanding of the physical basis of the rate enhancement of chemical reactions by enzymes. This is to answer the question: Why is the activation free energy in enzyme catalysed reactions smaller than the activation free energy observed in solution? Two important points of view are presented: Transition State (TS) theories and Michaelis Complex (MC) theories. After reviewing some of the most popular computational methods employed, we analyse two particular enzymatic reactions: the conversion of chorismate to prephenate catalysed by Bacillus subtilis chorismate mutase, and a methyl transfer from S-adenosylmethionine to catecholate catalysed by catechol O-methyltransferase. The results and conclusions obtained by different authors on these two systems, supporting either TS stabilisation or substrate preorganization, are presented and compared. Finally we try to give a unified view, where a preorganized enzyme active site, prepared to stabilise the TS, also favours those reactive conformations geometrically closer to the TS.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
---|---|
http://dx.doi.org/10.1039/b301875j | DOI Listing |
Phys Rev Lett
December 2024
Tel Aviv University, School of Mechanical Engineering and Center for Physics and Chemistry of Living Systems, 69978 Tel Aviv, Israel.
Materials that are constantly driven out of thermodynamic equilibrium, such as active and living systems, typically violate the Einstein relation. This may arise from active contributions to particle fluctuations which are unrelated to the dissipative resistance of the surrounding medium. We show that in these cases the widely used relation between informatic entropy production and heat dissipation does not hold.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFJ Vis Exp
January 2025
Genetics and Aging Research Unit, MassGeneral Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease, Henry and Allison McCance Center for Brain Health, Department of Neurology, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School;
A method to quantitate the stabilization of Mitochondria-Associated endoplasmic reticulum Membranes (MAMs) in a 3-dimensional (3D) neural model of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is presented here. To begin, fresh human neuro progenitor ReN cells expressing β-amyloid precursor protein (APP) containing familial Alzheimer's disease (FAD) or naïve ReN cells are grown in thin (1:100) Matrigel-coated tissue culture plates. After the cells reach confluency, these are electroporated with expression plasmids encoding red fluorescence protein (RFP)-conjugated mitochondria-binding sequence of AKAP1(34-63) (Mito-RFP) that detects mitochondria or constitutive MAM stabilizers MAM 1X or MAM 9X that stabilize tight (6 nm ± 1 nm gap width) or loose (24 nm ± 3 nm gap width) MAMs, respectively.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAppl Microbiol Biotechnol
January 2025
Chair of Microbiology, Technical University of Munich, TUM School of Life Science, Emil-Ramann-Str. 4, 85354, Freising, Germany.
The anaerobic bacterium Clostridium cellulovorans is a promising candidate for the sustainable production of biofuels and platform chemicals due to its cellulolytic properties. However, the genomic engineering of the species is hampered because of its poor genetic accessibility and the lack of genetic tools. To overcome this limitation, a protocol for triparental conjugation was established that enables the reliable transfer of vectors for markerless chromosomal modification into C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBraz J Microbiol
January 2025
Microbiology and Microbial Biotechnology Laboratory, Department of Botany and Forestry, Vidyasagar University, 721102, Midnapore, West Bengal, India.
Endophytic actinomycetes are potential sources of novel pharmaceutically active metabolites, significantly advancing natural product research. In the present investigation, secondary metabolites from two endophytic actinomycetes, Streptomyces parvulus GloL3, and Streptomyces lienomycini SK5, isolated from medicinal plant taxa, Globba marantina, and Selaginella kraussiana, exhibited broad-spectrum bioactivity. Ethyl Acetate (EA) extract of SK5 showed antimicrobial activity against nine human pathogens, including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), Candida tropicalis, and C.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCurr Obes Rep
January 2025
Department of Nutrition Sciences, School of Health Sciences, Ariel University, Ariel, Israel.
Purpose Of Review: Protein intake is recognized as a key nutritional factor crucial for optimizing Metabolic Bariatric Surgery (MBS) outcomes by preventing protein malnutrition, preserving fat-free mass, and inducing satiety. This paper discusses the current evidence regarding protein intake and its impact on clinical outcomes following MBS.
Recent Findings: There are considerable gaps in the understanding of protein requirements following MBS, as existing guidelines are based on limited and inconsistent reports.
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!