Protonation by "Newton's cradle"

Abstract

Biochemical Processes Imagine raising the ball on one end of a Newton's cradle. Upon release and the subsequent collision, the ball at the other end of the device flips up in response. Using high-resolution neutron diffraction, Nakamura et al. discovered an enzymatic proton relay chain that may operate in much the same fashion. In a glycoside hydrolase from the mushroom Phanerocaete chrysosporium , protons are relayed along a structure created by the enzyme from a distant asparagine to the catalytic asparagine through sequential tautomerizations. ![Figure][1] Protons move across a hydrolase like balls in Newton's Cradle PHOTO: ORLA/ISTOCK Sci. Adv. 10.1126/sciadv.1500263 (2015) [1]: pending:yes