Reductionism in the study of enzyme adaptation

• Published in: Comparative Biochemistry and Physiology Part B: Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Vol. 254; p. 110574
• Main Author: Fields, Peter A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Elsevier Inc 01-06-2021
• Subjects: Environmental stress; Enzyme stability; Enzymology; Reductionism; MM; TMAO; KM; αimid; MS; Vmax; A4-LDH; Reductionism; Environmental stress; MDH; pHi; SDS-PAGE; NMR; Enzyme stability; DSF; FTIR; kcat; Tm; FRET; Enzymology; HDX
• ISSN: 1096-4959; 1879-1107
• DOI: 10.1016/j.cbpb.2021.110574

One of the principal goals of comparative biology is the elucidation of mechanisms by which organisms adapt to different environments. The study of enzyme structure, function, and stability has contributed significantly to this effort, by revealing adaptation at a molecular level. Comparative biochemistry, including enzymology, necessarily pursues a reductionist approach in describing the function and structure of biomolecules, allowing more straightforward study of molecular systems by removing much of the complexity of their biological milieu. Although this reductionism has allowed a remarkable series of discoveries linking chemical processes to metabolism and to whole-organism function in the context of the environment, it also has the potential to mislead when careful consideration is not made of the simplifying assumptions inherent to such research. In this review, a brief history of the growth of enzymology, its reliance on a reductionist philosophy, and its contributions to our understanding of biological systems is given. Examples then are provided of research techniques, based on a reductionist approach, that have advanced our knowledge about enzyme adaptation to environmental stresses, including stability assays, enzyme kinetics, and the impact of solute composition on enzyme function. In each case, the benefits of the reductionist nature of the approach is emphasized, notable advances are described, but potential drawbacks due to inherent oversimplification of the study system are also identified.
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•The study of enzyme structure and function is inherently reductionist.•Enzymology has contributed greatly to our understanding of environmental adaptation.•Reductionism in studies of enzyme adaptation presents both strengths and weaknesses.•Strengths include the ability to describe structure and function of individual enzymes.•Potential weaknesses include oversimplification and misinterpretation of results.