448 CHEMICAL DYNAMICS 



tween the hydrated and anhydrous forms of the enzyme, and there 

 will be present a relatively greater proportion of the anhydrous 

 (synthesis accelerating) form FF; hence, under these conditions, 

 a further addition of enzyme will shift the equihbrium of the 

 protein in the direction products — > protein. 



A remarkable feature of the syntheses of protein through 

 enzyme agency which have been accomplished by Taylor and 

 myself is the high concentration of enzyme which has to be em- 

 ployed; the reason for this is now clear; the highly concentrated 

 enzyme contains a greater proportion of the anhydrous form and 

 it shifts the equilibrium of the protein in the direction of synthesis. 

 It is now clear, also, why a sufficiently high concentration of en- 

 zyme will actually bring about synthesis of protein in the uncon- 

 centrated products of the complete hydrolysis of a solution of 

 protein, brought about by the agency of dilute enzjine. The 

 dependence of the velocity-constant of hydrolysis, calculated from 

 the monomolecular formula, upon the initial concentration of the 

 substrate (Cf. Chap. XVI, section 3) is also readily comprehended, 

 since, as pointed out above, increase in the concentration of sub- 

 strate must, in the initial stages of hydrolysis, lead to an increase 

 in the proportion of the anhydrous to the hydrated form of the 

 enzyme, and hence to a diminution of the concentration of the 

 hydrolysis-accelerating form of the enzyme; hence the velocity- 

 constant of hydrolysis diminishes with increasing substrate- 

 concentration. 



5. The Influence of Temperature upon the Enzymatic Syn- 

 thesis of Proteins. — The action of high temperatures in enhanc- 

 ing the synthesizing power of the enzyme while diminishing or 

 abolishing its power of accelerating hydrolysis may be interpreted 

 in either of two ways. Either the high temperature destroys the 

 hydrated form by accelerating its hydrolysis, while leaving the 

 anhydrous form unaffected, so that during the period that the 

 anhydrous is changing into the hydrated form only the synthesis 

 of the protein is being accelerated, and not its hydrolysis, or, more 

 probably, the high temperature actually shifts the equilibrium of 

 reaction (D) in the direction HFFOH ^ FF + H2O, a conception 

 which, if we regard the proteolytic enzymes as being substances 

 analogous to proteins, is in good accord with our knowledge of the 

 influence of heat upon these bodies (Chap. XII). The fact that 

 heating a proteolytic enzyme leads to the formation of substances 



