Application of a Theory of Enzyme Specificity to Protein Synthesis

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Abstract
The problem of protein synthesis is formidable because a combination of the following 3 requirements is necessary: an individual position in the protein must be occupied by one and only one amino acid; a high-molecular-weight polymer must be produced; and, the macromole produced is formed from a number of different monomer units. Since each of these conditions may be satisfied by an enzyme-catalyzed reaction, the "template" in protein synthesis is presumed to be enzyme-like in character. A discussion of a recent theory (Dalgleish, C. E., Science 125:271, 1957) is given to explain enzyme specificity and suggests that reaction between enzyme and substrate can occur only after a change in protein structure induced by the substrate itself. When this theory is applied to the problem of protein synthesis, existing data can be explained by a flexible template in which each completed peptide bond induces an alignment necessary to the formation of the next bond.