Researchers from the Department of Atomically Resolved Dynamics of the Max Planck Institute for the Structure and Dynamics of Matter (MPSD) at the Center for Free-Electron Laser Science in Hamburg, the University of Potsdam (both in Germany) and the University of Toronto (Canada) have pieced together a detailed time-lapse movie revealing all the major steps during the catalytic cycle of an enzyme. Surprisingly, the communication between the protein units is accomplished via a water network akin to a string telephone. This communication is aligned with a 'breathing' motion, that is the expansion and contraction of the protein. This time-lapse sequence of structures reveals dynamic motions as a fundamental element in the molecular foundations of biology.
