252 IV. THE PRINCIPLES OF LIFE PHENOMENA 



In such a case, A can denature protein B successively and hence may 

 be termed denaturase. 



When B has a structure to be easily decomposed into smaller 

 molecules by the structural disturbance induced by A, or when A can 

 exert a disturbing effect which is specifically fitted for the decomposi- 

 tion of B, the latter will be decomposed and liberated from A on 

 account of the disappearance of the combining faculty due to the 

 decomposition. Thus A can act as proteolytic enzyme upon B. 



If A and B are similar in their disturbing action, both will be 

 denatured by the mutual effect on the combination. This will occur in 

 antigen-antibody combination. In such a case, as A is likewise to be 

 denatured, it will lose its function as a denaturase, and consequently 

 will be consumed in this reaction. A cannot be called on such an 

 occasion an enzyme in a strict sense. 



This is the general outline of the writer's idea as regards the 

 nature of enzymes. From this point of view all the proteins may be 

 regarded as enzymes. 



All the protein molecules produced in the oceans of the primitive 

 age might likewise be in this respect some kinds of enzymes. As 

 above stated, the evolution or the production of protein molecules in 

 the primitive age is considered to be established by the "struggle for 

 existence" of the protein molecules, whereby weaker patterns were 

 devoured by stronger patterns. Enzymatic nature can be said, there- 

 fore, to be the essential characteristic of proteins. It cannot be sup- 

 posed, however, that the protein molecules in the primitive age were 

 endowed with enzyme activities as elavorated as those of the enzymatic 

 proteins existing in the present day. The present-day enzymes must 

 be the proteins highly evolved for the purpose of acting as enzymes. 

 The evolution of organisms might be involved in the evolution of pro- 

 teins, which in turn might involve the evolution of enz^^mes. Pro- 

 teins and enzymes, therefore, may be inseparable from each other. 



2. The Relationship between Genes and Enzymes 



According to the writer's concept, the protoplasm is a system 

 composed of various substances especially proteins. In this system all 

 the proteins must have a similar arrangement in polar forces, and 

 the pattern of the arrangement is to be directed by genes. On the 

 other hand, the action of a protein as an enzyme should be determined 

 by the manner of arrangement of its polar forces, so that the func- 

 tions of enzymes in a certain cell must be subjected to the genes of 

 the cell. 



