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SUMMARY:Catalysis on Steroids: A Journey into an Enzyme’s Active Site - 
 Stephen Fried\, University of Cambridge
DTSTART:20150121T141500Z
DTEND:20150121T151500Z
UID:TALK57065@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Lucy Colwell
DESCRIPTION:Life can be tough – fortunately\, we have enzymes that actua
 te some of the most challenging chemical processes known with great speed 
 and specificity.  Though there is an abundance of structural\, biochemical
 \, and spectroscopic data on several model enzyme systems\, it has remaine
 d challenging to identify unifying physical principles that explain the or
 igins of enzymes’ prodigious catalytic powers.  Vibrational Stark spectr
 oscopy\, a somewhat new addition to the biophysical cannon\, is a method w
 e developed that enables one to measure electric fields inside proteins.  
 Using this approach\, we found that the active site of ketosteroid isomera
 se focuses an extremely large electric field onto the bond that breaks in 
 the enzyme’s rate-determining step\; moreover\, we found that this elect
 ric field explains (quantitatively) a substantial portion of this enzyme
 ’s catalytic effect.  I believe that the electric field picture that eme
 rges from these results can provide a unifying framework for understanding
  how enzymes works\, and will discuss several implications for future rese
 arch in enzyme design.
LOCATION:Department of Chemistry\, Cambridge\, Pfizer lecture theatre
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