What\u2019s in a name? From \u201cfluctuation fit\u201d to \u201cconformational selection\u201d: rediscovery of a concept

Ferenc Orosz,Beáta G Vértessy

doi:10.1007/s40656-021-00442-2

Abstract

Rediscoveries are not rare in biology. A recent example is the re-birth of the "fluctuation fit" concept developed by F. B. Straub and G. Szabolcsi in the sixties of the last century, under various names, the most popular of which is the "conformational selection". This theory offers an alternative to the "induced fit" concept by Koshland for the interpretation of the mechanism of protein—ligand interactions. A central question is whether the ligand induces a conformational change (as described by the induced fit model) or rather selects and stabilizes a complementary conformation from a pre-existing equilibrium of various states of the protein (according to the fluctuation fit/conformational selection model). Straub and Szabolcsi’s role and the factors hindering the spread of the fluctuation fit theory are discussed in the context of the history of the Hungarian biology in the 1950s and 1960s.

Highlights

A central question is whether the ligand induces a conformational change or rather selects and stabilizes a complementary conformation from a pre-existing equilibrium of various states of the protein
Straub and Szabolcsi’s role and the factors hindering the spread of the fluctuation fit theory are discussed in the context of the history of the Hungarian biology in the 1950s and 1960s
As a scientist and a science politician, had a significant role in the fact that, following the interlude of the fifties, Hungarian biology was able to return fast to the tradition hallmarked by Albert Szent-Györgyi

Summary

What is a rediscovery?

Rediscovery is a special case of a wider phenomenon referred to as “multiple independent discovery” by science historians, i.e., similar discoveries made by scientists working independently of each other (Garfield, 1980a). As a scientist and a science politician, had a significant role in the fact that, following the interlude of the fifties, Hungarian biology was able to return fast to the tradition hallmarked by Albert Szent-Györgyi He became director of both the Institute of Biochemistry (later Enzymology) (1960–1986) and the Biological Research Centre (1970–1978) of the HAS. As a later director of the institute, Péter Závodszky, who was still starting his career at the time, wrote in his memorial paper (Závodszky & Hajdú, 2013, 265): The existence and functional importance of conformational flexibility was a basic concept in the interpretation of all experimental work on enzyme catalysis at the Institute of Enzymology, in Budapest since the early 60s, and this was atypical at those days for structural biochemists elsewhere.

Year Number of publications

Further life of the concept