{"id":3868,"date":"2008-12-03T22:30:00","date_gmt":"2008-12-04T03:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/without-enzyme-biological-reaction-essential-to-life-takes-2-3-billion-years-unc-study\/"},"modified":"2018-08-01T10:16:55","modified_gmt":"2018-08-01T14:16:55","slug":"without-enzyme-biological-reaction-essential-to-life-takes-2-3-billion-years-unc-study","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.med.unc.edu\/biochem\/news\/without-enzyme-biological-reaction-essential-to-life-takes-2-3-billion-years-unc-study\/","title":{"rendered":"Without enzymes, biological reaction essential to life takes 2.3 billion years: UNC study"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Dr. Richard Wolfenden, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, and member of the National Academy of Sciences, and co-author Charles Lewis, PhD publish a report in the November issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that without enzymes speeding the process, it would take 2.3 bilion years to complete vital biological transformation.<\/p>\n

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Richard Wolfenden, PhD
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All biological reactions within human cells depend on enzymes. Their power as catalysts enables biological reactions to occur usually in milliseconds. But how slowly would these reactions proceed spontaneously, in the absence of enzymes \u2013 minutes, hours, days? And why even pose the question?<\/p>\n

One scientist who studies these issues is Richard Wolfenden, Ph.D., Alumni Distinguished Professor Biochemistry and Biophysics and Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. Wolfenden holds posts in both the School of Medicine and in the College of Arts and Sciences and is a member of the National Academy of Sciences.<\/p>\n

In 1995, Wolfenden reported that without a particular enzyme, a biological transformation he deemed \u201cabsolutely essential\u201d in creating the building blocks of DNA and RNA would take 78 million years.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow we\u2019ve found a reaction that \u2013 again, in the absence of an enzyme \u2013 is almost 30 times slower than that,\u201d Wolfenden said. \u201cIts half-life \u2013 the time it takes for half the substance to be consumed \u2013 is 2.3 billion years, about half the age of the Earth. Enzymes can make that reaction happen in milliseconds.\u201d<\/p>\n

With co-author Charles A. Lewis, Ph.D., a postdoctoral scientist in his lab, Wolfenden published a report of their new findings recently in the online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The study is also due to appear in the Nov. 11 print edition.<\/p>\n

The reaction in question is essential for the biosynthesis of hemoglobin and chlorophyll, Wolfenden noted. But when catalyzed by the enzyme uroporphyrinogen decarboxylase, the rate of chlorophyll and hemoglobin production in cells \u201cis increased by a staggering factor, one that\u2019s equivalent to the difference between the diameter of a bacterial cell and the distance from the Earth to the sun.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis enzyme is essential for both plant and animal life on the planet,\u201d Wolfenden said. \u201cWhat we\u2019re defining here is what evolution had to overcome, that the enzyme is surmounting a tremendous obstacle, a reaction half-life of 2.3 billion years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Knowing how long reactions would take without enzymes allows biologists to appreciate their evolution as prolific catalysts, Wolfenden said. It also enables scientists to compare enzymes with artificial catalysts produced in the laboratory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWithout catalysts, there would be no life at all, from microbes to humans,\u201d he said. \u201cIt makes you wonder how natural selection operated in such a way as to produce a protein that got off the ground as a primitive catalyst for such an extraordinarily slow reaction.\u201d<\/p>\n

Experimental methods for observing very slow reactions can also generate important information for rational drug design based on cellular molecular studies.<\/p>\n

\u201cEnzymes that do a prodigious job of catalysis are, hands-down, the most sensitive targets for drug development,\u201d Wolfenden said. \u201cThe enzymes we study are fascinating because they exceed all other known enzymes in their power as catalysts.\u201d<\/p>\n

Wolfenden has carried out extensive research on enzyme mechanisms and water affinities of biological compound. His work has also influenced rational drug design, and findings from his laboratory helped spur development of ACE inhibitor drugs, now widely used to treat hypertension and stroke. Research on enzymes as proficient catalysts also led to the design of protease inhibitors that are used to treat HIV infection.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve only begun to understand how to speed up reactions with chemical catalysts, and no one has even come within shouting distance of producing, or predicting the magnitude of, their catalytic power,\u201d Wolfenden said.<\/p>\n

Support for this research came from the National Institute of General Medicine, a component of the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n

Note:<\/span> Wolfenden can be reached at (919) 966-1203 or water@med.unc.edu<\/a><\/span>. Lewis can be contacted at (919) 966-7409 or clewisjr@med.unc.edu<\/a><\/span>.<\/p>\n

School of Medicine contact:<\/span> Les Lang (919) 966-9366, llang@med.unc.edu<\/a><\/span>
News Services contact:<\/span> Patric Lane (919) 962-8596, patric_lane@unc.edu<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

Dr. Richard Wolfenden, Alumni Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Biophysics, and member of the National Academy of Sciences, and co-author Charles Lewis, PhD publish a report in the November issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that without enzymes speeding the process, it would take 2.3 bilion years to complete vital biological transformation.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12066,"featured_media":3869,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"layout":"","cellInformation":"","apiCallInformation":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[10,11,4],"class_list":["post-3868","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-news_faculty","tag-news_2008","tag-recent-news","odd"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nWithout enzymes, biological reaction essential to life takes 2.3 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