Ontology highlight
ABSTRACT:
SUBMITTER: Dinpajooh M
PROVIDER: S-EPMC4910110 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jun
REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature
Dinpajooh Mohammadhasan M Martin Daniel R DR Matyushov Dmitry V DV
Scientific reports 20160616
Enzymes in biology's energy chains operate with low energy input distributed through multiple electron transfer steps between protein active sites. The general challenge of biological design is how to lower the activation barrier without sacrificing a large negative reaction free energy. We show that this goal is achieved through a large polarizability of the active site. It is polarized by allowing a large number of excited states, which are populated quantum mechanically by electrostatic fluct ...[more]