TCD runs the world repository for information about known and newly discovered enzymes, writes Dick Ahlstrom
When it comes to name-calling, Trinity College Dublin is a world-beater. For the past 15 years it has been the world centre for the classification and naming of newly discovered enzymes.
The World Centre for the Nomenclature and Classification of Enzymes is sponsored by the International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (IUBMB), explains the centre's director, Prof Keith Tipton.
The union chose Tipton to head the newly established centre in 1992 because he had completed considerable research into the study of enzymes. "They wanted somebody who knew about enzymes. I suppose I was the sucker. It is hard work but it is also fun."
Enzymes are a remarkable type of protein produced by the body to make things happen in cells. They are nature's biological toolkit that make and destroy the molecules in cells required for life, growth and death of all organisms.
They are also central to the way that many drugs work. Aspirin, many antibiotics, anti-cancer, anti-HIV drugs and a host of others operate by inhibiting specific enzymes, thus blocking some process in the cell.
The mapping of the human genome has accelerated the study of all proteins, including enzymes and so Trinity's role, in the naming and classification of new enzymes being placed on what is known simply as the "enzyme list", is key.
"Enzyme classification is of fundamental importance to the scientific and medical communities," says Tipton, who is also emeritus professor of biochemistry at TCD. His centre provides unambiguous identification of enzymes with information about function. This supports many areas of research including drug design and biotechnology, he explains.
The enzyme list includes about 4,000 enzyme entries plus 1,000 records for enzyme entries that have been modified as a result of new discoveries.
The centre holds a range of information on each entry including what the enzyme reacts with, its proper chemical name plus any other names associated with it. It carries a unique four-digit identifier and the list provides links to other databases where information about the enzyme might be found.
Importantly, the list also provides information about the enzyme's function.
By knowing what chemicals the enzyme catalyses, researchers gain information about the enzyme's function. This is crucial when attempting to develop new drugs that inhibit enzyme activity.
An enzyme known to function at one location may also have a role in other sometimes unexpected areas of the body, something that could trigger side effects. "What we want to do is get a way to predict what will happen or what side effects will occur when you inhibit an enzyme," Tipton explains.
The Trinity centre provides the source material for 35 other major enzyme databases worldwide. New discoveries are defined and named at Trinity and this information is circulated internationally before final approval and inclusion on the enzyme list.
The information on the list is made freely available to anyone who wants to use it, Tipton says. "We provide these as downloadable files. The purpose of the IUBMB is to give things away, because they want the less developed world to have free access to everything."
Tipton works with colleagues Dr Sinead Boyce and Dr Andrew McDonald in the centre, with financial support from the IUBMB, from Science Foundation Ireland, the US National Institutes of Health and the EU.