Entropy and Enzyme Catalysis

ConspectusThe role played by entropy for the enormous rate enhancement achieved by enzymes has been debated for many decades. There are, for example, several confirmed cases where the activation free energy is reduced by around 10 kcal/mol due to entropic effects, corresponding to a rate enhancement of ∼107 compared to the uncatalyzed reaction. However, despite substantial efforts from both the experimental and theoretical side, no real consensus has been reached regarding the origin of such large entropic contributions to enzyme catalysis. Another remarkable instance of entropic effects is found in enzymes that are adapted by evolution to work at low temperatures, near the freezing point of water. These cold-adapted enzymes invariably show a more negative entropy and a lower enthalpy of activation than their mesophilic orthologs, which counteracts the exponential damping of reaction rates at lower temperature. The structural origin of this universal phenomenon has, however, remained elusive. The basic pr...