Round Table and General Discussion on Structure and Function of Thermophilic Enzymes and Proteins

Abstract

The members of the panel whom you see here had a briefing session yesterday and decided to try to highlight those aspects of the discussion of the last two and a half days which represent recurrent themes or which require further clarification. The general topic of the session this afternoon will be protein structure and thermophily. We are ascending from the primary structure of proteins in terms of composition and partial sequences to the three-dimensional structure as it relates to homologous amino-acid sequences. We shall next proceed from the monomeric to the sub-unit enzymes or, in other words, consider the tertiary and the quaternary structure of thermophilic proteins. Many of the enzymes which are of interest in connection with this symposium are metallo-enzymes and we therefore feel that a consideration of the role of metals in the stability and functions as they relate to thermostability should be included in this discussion.