Menu Expand

Inventing Synthetic Methods to Discover How Enzymes Work

Cite BOOK

Style

Kent, S. (2022). Inventing Synthetic Methods to Discover How Enzymes Work. GNT Publishing GmbH. https://doi.org/10.47261/1549
Kent, Stephen B. H.. Inventing Synthetic Methods to Discover How Enzymes Work. GNT Publishing GmbH, 2022. Book. https://doi.org/10.47261/1549
Kent, S (2022): Inventing Synthetic Methods to Discover How Enzymes Work, GNT Publishing GmbH, [online] https://doi.org/10.47261/1549

Format

Inventing Synthetic Methods to Discover How Enzymes Work

Kent, Stephen B. H.

Lives in Chemistry – Lebenswerke in der Chemie, Vol. 5

(2022)

Additional Information

Book Details

Pricing

Abstract

Creative »cheating« led Stephen B. H. Kent, born in 1945, to solve one of the Grand Challenges of 20th Century chemistry: the total synthesis of protein molecules. Twenty-five formative years in his native New Zealand had prepared him in manifold ways. Vigorous debates at the family dinner table, combined with secondary school classes in Kantian moral philosophy and the discipline of competitive distance running influenced his later successes in scientific research. As a university undergraduate he was fascinated by the ability of enzymes to catalyze chemical reactions and set out to gain the expertise to understand how they did it. Steve loved to experiment and didn’t leave the bench for many years to come. Keep it simple, be counter-dogma and ignore the opinions of referees were his guiding principles. Read how his ambition to understand the chemistry of enzyme catalysis led stephen kent to the United States and about his adventures there in science and everyday life.

l-i-c.org

Table of Contents

Section Title Page Action Price
Lives in Chemistry 3
Published titles 4
Imprint 6
Table of Contents 8
Preface 12
1 Total chemical synthesis of proteins 17
1.1 Chemical ligation — the true breakthrough 20
1.2 Native chemical ligation 29
1.3 Convergent synthesis of proteins 44
1.4 Total protein syntheses enabled by chemical ligation 56
1.5 Impact on total chemical protein synthesis 57
2 Chemistry of enzyme catalysis 59
2.1 Role of hydrogen bonds in catalysis 63
2.2 Structure of the tetrahedral intermediate 68
2.3 Site-specific labeling 69
2.4 An artificial catalytic apparatus 72
3 Novel peptide and protein science 75
3.1 Hepatitis B virus immunology 77
3.2 Synthetic erythropoiesis protein 82
3.3 Ester insulin 84
4 Formative influences 91
4.1 Childhood and early education 93
4.2 Undergraduate education 107
4.3 Scientific apprenticeships 113
4.4 University of California Berkeley 126
4.5 PhD research 142
4.6 Berkeley Life 149
5 Solid phase peptide synthesis 161
5.1 Bruce Merrifield and the Rockefeller University 164
5.2 New York life in the 1970s 174
5.3 Emil Fischer and the early years of peptide chemistry 181
5.4 A Golden Age of peptide synthesis 182
5.5 Total chemical synthesis of enzymes: claims and counterclaims 184
5.6 Fixing solid phase peptide synthesis 186
5.7 Optimized SPPS 207
6 An efflorescence of scientific creativity 209
6.1 A computer-controlled peptide synthesizer 212
6.2 Instrumentation development at Caltech 215
6.3 Crystal structure of the HIV-1 protease 223
6.4 Life at Caltech and Pasadena 226
6.5 The Scripps Research Institute 235
6.6 Life in the world of biotech 251
6.7 University of Chicago 252
7 Mirror image proteins 263
7.1 Mirror image enzymes 266
7.2 Mirror image drug discovery 269
7.3 Racemic protein crystallography 273
7.4 Correcting “D-allo-ShK” protein 285
8 Afterword 289
8.1 Acceptance and rejection of ideas 291
8.2 Creativity in research 297
8.3 An idiosyncratic approach to science 301
8.4 Some thoughts on academic science 305
8.5 A few last words of thanks 310
Appendix 311
Vita 313
Chemistree 314
Holographs 316
Publications 322
Glossary 323
Links and literature 327
Image sources 330
Index 332