An Asp/His catalytic site of 10-formyltetrahydrofolate dehydrogenase (FDH) was suggested to have a similar catalytic topology with the Asp/His catalytic site of serine proteases. Many studies supported the hypothesis that serine protease inhibitors can bind and modulate the activity of serine proteases by binding to the catalytic site of serine proteases. To explore the possibility that soybean...

The diffusional encounter between substrate and enzyme, and hence catalytic efficiency, can be enhanced by mutating charged residues on the surface of the enzyme. In this paper we present a simple method for screening such mutations. This is based on our earlier result that electrostatic enhancement of the enzyme-substrate binding rate constant can be accounted for just by the interaction poten...

We discuss our recent results on the Escherichia coli F-ATPase, in particular its catalytic site in the beta subunit and regulation of H+ transport by the gamma subunit. Affinity labelling experiments suggest that beta Lys-155 in the glycine-rich sequence is near the gamma-phosphate moiety of ATP bound at the catalytic site. The enzyme loses activity upon introduction of missense mutations in b...

We study equilibrium properties of a catalytically activated annihilation A+A-->0 reaction taking place on a one-dimensional chain of length N (N--> infinity ) in which some segments (placed at random, with mean concentration p) possess special, catalytic properties. Annihilation reaction takes place as soon as any two A particles land onto two vacant sites at the extremities of the catalytic s...

In response to binding viral double-stranded RNA byproducts within a cell, the RNA-dependent protein kinase PKR phosphorylates the alpha subunit of the translation initiation factor eIF2 on a regulatory site, Ser51. This triggers the general shutdown of protein synthesis and inhibition of viral propagation. To understand the basis for substrate recognition by and the regulation of PKR, we deter...

The crystal structure of Bacillus subtilis -amylase, in complex with the pseudotetrasaccharide inhibitor acarbose, revealed an hexasaccharide in the active site as a result of transglycosylation. After comparison with the known structure of the catalytic-site mutant complexed with the native substrate maltopentaose, it is suggested that the present structure represents a mimic intermediate in t...

A catalytic site typically consists of one or more atoms of a catalyst surface that arrange into a configuration offering a specific electronic structure for adsorbing or dissociating reactant molecules. The catalytic activity of adjacent bimetallic sites of metallic nanoparticles has been studied previously. An isolated bimetallic site supported on a non-metallic surface could exhibit a distin...

Lytic transglycosylases are abundant peptidoglycan lysing enzymes that degrade the heteropolymers of bacterial cell walls in metabolic processes or in the course of a bacteriophage infection. The conventional catalytic mechanism of transglycosylases involves only the Glu or Asp residue. Endolysin gp144 of Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacteriophage phiKZ belongs to the family of Gram-negative transgly...

To dissect the effects of the nucleotide-binding and catalytic metal ions on DNA polymerase mechanisms for DNA repair and synthesis, aside from the chemical reaction, we investigate their roles in the conformational transitions between closed and open states and assembly/disassembly of the active site of polymerase beta/DNA complexes before and after the chemical reaction of nucleotide incorpor...