This symposium will bring to light the results from recent studies on the mechanisms of important biological reactions, with an emphasis on enzyme-catalyzed reactions, or the results of studies on models for enzymatic reactions. Four themes of contemporary relevance will be highlighted:
(1) The Chemical Mechanisms of Enzymatic Reactions. Recent advances in our understanding of enzyme catalysis will be presented.
(2) Biomimetic Organic Reactions. New application of the tools of modern mechanistic organic chemistry to the elucidation of mechanisms of chemical reactions of biological significance will be presented.
(3) Directed Evolution of Enzyme Activity and the Assignment of Function to Protein Catalyst. The results of new studies on the design and directed evolution of protein catalysts will be presented. New methodologies to identify the reactions catalyzed by protein of unknown function will be presented.
(4) Enzyme Inhibition and the Chemical Mechanism for Drug Action. The results of recent synergistic studies of the mechanism of enzyme action applied to the design of enzyme inhibitors as therapeutic agents will be presented.
