Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 29, 2025

09:42
Unraveling Entropic Rate Acceleration Induced by Solvent Dynamics in Membrane Enzymes
Published on: January 16, 2016
9.2K
Dynamic Connection between Enzymatic Catalysis and Collective Protein Motions
Pedro Ojeda-May1,2, Ameeq Ui Mushtaq1, Per Rogne1
1Department of Chemistry, Umeå University, Umeå SE-90187, Sweden.
Biochemistry
|July 12, 2021
Summary
Enzymes use protein motions for catalysis. This study shows active site dynamics in adenylate kinase link catalytic steps to enzyme conformational changes, influencing reaction barriers and enzyme opening.
Area of Science:
- Biochemistry
- Enzymology
- Structural Biology
Background:
- Enzymes utilize diverse protein motions for catalysis.
- The role of collective protein motions in enzyme catalysis is not fully understood.
- Understanding these dynamics is crucial for enzyme mechanism elucidation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the catalytic mechanism of adenylate kinase.
- To determine the role of catalytic residues in catalysis and enzyme conformational changes.
- To link enzyme active site dynamics to overall enzyme function.
Main Methods:
- Molecular dynamics simulations
- Enzyme kinetics assays
- X-ray crystallography
- Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy
Main Results:
- Active site motions (picoseconds to nanoseconds) modulate free energy landscapes of subdomain motions.
- Catalytic reaction is linked to slow conformational dynamics via active site motions.
- Post-catalytic conformational rearrangement accelerates enzyme opening.
Conclusions:
- Enzymatic catalysis is intrinsically linked to collective protein motions.
- Intermediate-scale motions bridge disparate timescales between catalysis and conformational change.
- Protein dynamics play a critical role in modulating enzyme reaction barriers and conformational states.
Related Concept Videos
Introduction to Mechanisms of Enzyme Catalysis
9.4K
For many years, scientists thought that enzyme-substrate binding took place in a simple "lock-and-key" fashion. This model stated that the enzyme and substrate fit together perfectly in one instantaneous step. However, current research supports a more refined view scientists call induced fit. The induced-fit model expands upon the lock-and-key model by describing a more dynamic interaction between enzyme and substrate. As the enzyme and substrate come together, their interaction causes...
9.4K
Enzymes
85.6K
Inside living organisms, enzymes act as catalysts for many biochemical reactions involved in cellular metabolism. The role of enzymes is to reduce the activation energies of biochemical reactions by forming complexes with its substrates. The lowering of activation energies favor an increase in the rates of biochemical reactions.
Enzyme deficiencies can often translate into life-threatening diseases. For example, a genetic abnormality resulting in the deficiency of the enzyme G6PD...
Enzyme deficiencies can often translate into life-threatening diseases. For example, a genetic abnormality resulting in the deficiency of the enzyme G6PD...
85.6K
Mechanical Protein Functions
5.2K
Proteins perform many mechanical functions in a cell. These proteins can be classified into two general categories- proteins that generate mechanical forces and proteins that are subjected to mechanical forces. Proteins providing mechanical support to the structure of the cell, such as keratin, are subjected to mechanical force, whereas proteins involved in cell movement and transport of molecules across cell membranes, such as an ion pump, are examples of generating mechanical force.
5.2K
Induced-fit Model
85.7K
Most chemical reactions in cells require enzymes—biological catalysts that speed up the reaction without being consumed or permanently changed. They reduce the activation energy needed to convert the reactants into products. Enzymes are proteins, that usually work by binding to a substrate—a reactant molecule that they act upon.
Enzymes exhibit substrate specificity, meaning that they can only bind to certain substrates. This is mainly determined by the shape and chemical...
Enzymes exhibit substrate specificity, meaning that they can only bind to certain substrates. This is mainly determined by the shape and chemical...
85.7K
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions
8.3K
Cooperative allosteric transitions can occur in multimeric proteins, where each subunit of the protein has its own ligand-binding site. When a ligand binds to any of these subunits, it triggers a conformational change that affects the binding sites in the other subunits; this can change the affinity of the other sites for their respective ligands. The ability of the protein to change the shape of its binding site is attributed to the presence of a mix of flexible and stable segments in the...
8.3K
Cooperative Allosteric Transitions
2.5K
2.5K

