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Proton tunneling and enzyme catalysis

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Summary

It is proposed in this paper that enzymes, by virtue of a number of correctly positioned sites of interaction with substrates, can force the compression of hydrogen bonds, increasing the probability of proton transfer by quantum mechanical tunneling. By such a catalytic mechanism a rate enhancement of many orders of magnitude may be obtained with a very low energy input requirement. The mechanism would, however, require a highly structured catalyst.

Pertinent aspects of hydrogen bond theory and of tunneling theory are briefly reviewed.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Biomathematics Program Department of Experimental Statistics, North Carolina State University, 27607, Raleigh, North Carolina

    Harvey J. Gold

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  1. Harvey J. Gold
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Work supported by NIGMS Training Grant No. GM 678-07.

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Gold, H.J. Proton tunneling and enzyme catalysis. Acta Biotheor 20, 29–40 (1971). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01556967

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01556967

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