Neutrons Observe Vitamin B6-Dependent Enzyme Activity Useful for Drug Development (image)

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Caption

An ORNL-led team used neutrons to observe the AAT enzyme, a vitamin B6-dependent protein, and found that the chemical reaction occurred only in one active site. Nuclear scattering length density maps (colored mesh) highlight the positions of critical hydrogen atoms, including a low-barrier hydrogen bond (magenta mesh) not thought to exist in AAT, which may be crucial for catalysis.

Credit

Jill Hemman and Andrey Kovalevsky /Oak Ridge National Laboratory, US Dept. of Energy

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