EMBL-EBI, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Cambridge, UK.
FEBS J. 2011 Oct;278(20):3835-45. doi: 10.1111/j.1742-4658.2011.08190.x. Epub 2011 Jun 13.
Enzymes are basically composed of 20 naturally occurring amino acids, yet they catalyse a dizzying array of chemical reactions, with regiospecificity and stereospecificity and under physiological conditions. In this review, we attempt to gain some understanding of these complex proteins, from the chemical versatility of the catalytic toolkit, including the use of cofactors (both metal ions and organic molecules), to the complex mapping of reactions to proteins (which is rarely one-to-one), and finally the structural complexity of enzymes and their active sites, often involving multidomain or multisubunit assemblies. This work highlights how the enzymes that we see today reflect millions of years of evolution, involving de novo design followed by exquisite regulation and modulation to create optimal fitness for life.
酶基本上由 20 种天然存在的氨基酸组成，但它们在生理条件下具有区域和立体选择性，能催化令人眼花缭乱的各种化学反应。在这篇综述中，我们试图从催化工具包的化学多功能性，包括辅因子（金属离子和有机分子）的使用，到对很少是一一对应的反应到蛋白质的复杂映射，以及酶及其活性位点的结构复杂性，通常涉及多域或多亚基组装，来了解这些复杂的蛋白质。这项工作强调了我们今天看到的酶是如何反映出数百万年的进化，涉及从头设计，然后进行精细的调节和调制，以创造出最适合生命的适应性。
