Abstract

No Abstract. First paragraph:\nThe accurate prediction of enzyme kinetics from first principles is one of the central goals of theoretical biochemistry. Currently there is considerable debate[1]-[3] about the applicability of transition state theory (TST) to compute rate constants of enzyme-catalyzed reactions. Classical TST is known to be insufficient in some cases, but corrections for dynamical recrossing and quantum mechanical tunneling can be included.[1], [2], [4] Many effects that go beyond the framework of TST have been proposed, particularly focusing on the possible role of protein dynamics and conformational effects on the enzyme activity. Unfortunately, the overall importance of these effects for the effective reaction rate is difficult (if not impossible) to determine experimentally. However, if one could compute the quasi-thermodynamical free energy of activation with chemical accuracy (i.e. 1 kcal mol-1), comparison with the effective measured free energy of activation would directly show the importance of other effects.

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