Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
Endergonic
Process
(
d
)
Real Conformons
Functions
(
3
)
Conformons
Exergonic Process
(
1
)
Virtual Conformons
Heat in the Environment
(
b
)
Thermal
Fluctuations
of Enzymes
(
a
)
Fig. 11.30 A network representation of
the architectonics of the conformon
. The network consists
of four nodes, (a)-(d), and three edges, (1)-(3), all of which are indispensible in defining the
structure and function of the conformon,
sequence-specific conformational strains of biopolymers
that are postulated to drive all goal-directed molecular motions in the living cell
(Ji 1974b,
1985b). Thermal fluctuations are alternatively referred to as
Brownian motions
7. Indirect evidence gleaned from the studies carried out by molecular biologists,
e.g., Socolich et al. (2005), Lockless and Ranganathan (1999), and by enzyme
kineticists, e.g., Northrup and Hynes (1980) and Kurzynski (1993, 1997, 2006),
suggests that within the lifetime of a conformer, more than one conformons are
likely to be produced. The relation among a
conformer,
a
conformon
, and
amino
acid residues
is triadic in that the production of a conformon requires (a) a set of
amino acid residues, (b) the mechanical energy associated with (or stored in)
their nonequilibrium arrangements in space and time, and (c) the function
associated with the conformer harboring the conformon under consideration.
We may summarize the relation among these three entities as follows:
A conformer (at the (n + 1)
th
level) provides the biological meaning of the conformons (at
the n
th
level) that are generated within it utilizing a subset of its amino acid residues (at the
(n
1)
th
level) through their interactions with an exergonic process such as ligand binding or
chemical reactions. (11.42)
We may refer to Statement 11.42 as the
triadic architectonics of the conformon
(TAC), the term “architectonics” referring to the
design principles of an architec-
ture or a building
as already alluded to previously. The molecular mechanisms
implementing TAC require introducing two more concepts -
virtual conformons
and
thermal fluctuations
(see (1) and (b) in Fig.
11.30
):
The heat or thermal energies supplied by the environment of living systems (see
(a) in Fig.
11.30
) are essential for thermal fluctuations (also known as Brownian
motions) (1) which are in turn prerequisite for all living processes, which leads to
the following generalization:
No thermal fluctuations, no life.
(11.43)
To emphasize the fundamental significance of
thermal fluctuations
in under-
standing the phenomenon of life on the molecular level, Statement 11.43 may be
referred to as the
Second Law of Biology,
the First Law of Biology being given in
Statement 11.32.
