Triosephosphate isomerase 269 structure changes

Fig. 15. Thermal denaturation of triosephosphate isomerase with FTIR (upper left), second-derivative FTIR (upper right), and VCD (bottom) showing irreversible aggregation effects. The IR shift from a simple maximum at 1650-1640 cm-1 to a lower frequency distorted to low wavenumber is seen to be irreversible when the original spectrum is not recovered. The second-derivative result makes the changes more dramatic and shows the original native state spectrum to be more complex (negative second derivatives correspond to peak positions). Loss of structure is even more evident in the VCD, which loses most of its intensity at 60°C.

Structural studies of the oxy-Cope catalytic antibody system reinforce the idea that conformational dynamics of both protein and substrate are intimately intertwined with enzyme catalysis, and consideration of these dynamics is essential for complete understanding of biologically catalyzed reactions. Indeed, recent single molecule kinetic studies of enzyme-catalyzed reactions also suggest that different conformations of proteins are associated with different catalytic rates (Xie and Lu, 1999). In addition, a number of enzymes are known to undergo conformational changes on binding of substrate (Koshland, 1987) that lead to enhanced catalysis two examples are hexokinase (Anderson and Steitz, 1975 Dela-Fuente and Sols, 1970) and triosephosphate isomerase (Knowles, 1991). 

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