Regulation of the Enzymic Activity of Glutamic Dehydrogenase Mediated by Changes in Its Structure

Abstract

The present communication concerns an attempt to understand, in general terms, the mechanisms by which enzymic reactions can be regulated. Our approach has been to correlate changes in enzyme function with alterations in protein structure in order to account for kinetic changes induced by certain biologically active regulator substances. Until quite recently, most studies of the effects of enzyme modifiers have been on the kinetics of the enzyme-modifier interaction, but advances in the understanding of the structure of globular proteins now make it feasible to attempt to relate enzyme activity with enzyme structure. As a case in point, we shall discuss the enzyme, glutamic dehydrogenase, which is present and usually highly active in many forms of life.