Abstract
THERE is once more definite progress in enzyme chemistry to report, largely due to the resumption of the study of enzymes from the purely chemical point of view. The appreciation on the Continent of the concept adumbrated by Willstatter that enzymes are composed of a colloid carrier, and of one or more specific active groups through which they are associated with or bound to the substrate on which they act, has opened the way for practical work which, inspired by the successful isolation by Sumner and by Northrop of highly active enzyme preparations in crystalline form, is affording some clues to their inner structure. Willstatter postulates the colloidal carrier as responsible for the catalytic activity and for the stability of the active group, which latter controls the specificity. Kraut has recently suggested the names Agon for the active group and Pheron for the carrier, which have been adopted by Oppenheimer in his books.
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Progress in Enzyme Chemistry. Nature 137, 53–55 (1936). https://doi.org/10.1038/137053a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/137053a0