Synchronization and enhanced catalysis of mechanically coupled enzymes

TL;DR

This study investigates how mechanically coupled enzymes can synchronize their catalytic cycles and enhance their overall catalytic efficiency through stochastic dynamics and coupling strength.

Contribution

It reveals conditions for enzyme synchronization and demonstrates that mechanical coupling can significantly boost catalytic rates, highlighting cooperative behavior in enzyme clusters.

Findings

Enzymes can synchronize their catalytic steps under certain coupling conditions.

Mechanical coupling can lead to a substantial increase in catalytic rate.

A global bifurcation explains the transition to synchronized, enhanced catalysis.

Abstract

We examine the stochastic dynamics of two enzymes that are mechanically coupled to each other, e.g., through an elastic substrate or a fluid medium. The enzymes undergo conformational changes during their catalytic cycle, which itself is driven by stochastic steps along a biased chemical free energy landscape. We find conditions under which the enzymes can synchronize their catalytic steps, and discover that the coupling can lead to a significant enhancement in their overall catalytic rate. Both effects can be understood as arising from a global bifurcation in the underlying dynamical system at sufficiently strong coupling. Our findings suggest that, despite their molecular scale, enzymes can be cooperative and improve their performance in metabolic clusters.