{"id":2117,"date":"2026-09-08T16:10:53","date_gmt":"2026-09-08T07:10:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/?post_type=report&#038;p=2117"},"modified":"2026-09-08T16:34:11","modified_gmt":"2026-09-08T07:34:11","slug":"%e3%80%90elsi%e3%80%91metabolic-networks-provide-clues-about-the-earliest-stages-of-enzyme-evolution","status":"publish","type":"report","link":"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/en\/report\/rid2117\/","title":{"rendered":"\u3010ELSI\u3011Metabolic networks provide clues about the earliest stages of enzyme evolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><strong>New model uses metabolic reactions to predict the structures and functions of the earliest enzymes<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Enzymes emerged before the last universal common ancestor, making comparative genetic analyses insufficient to understand the earliest stages of enzyme evolution. Researchers at ELSI have combined protein fold structure data and metabolic reaction networks to create a predictive model called enzyme-gated network expansion. The model predicts that the earliest enzymes were predominantly \u03b1\/\u03b2 folds, suggesting that the origin of enzyme-mediated metabolic reactions may have been sparked by a single enzyme structure type.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-medium-font-size\"><strong>Metabolic Reactions Reveal Early Enzyme Evolution<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"846\" src=\"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Metabolic-network-1024x846.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-2118\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Metabolic-network-1024x846.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Metabolic-network-800x661.jpg 800w, https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Metabolic-network-768x635.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.initiative.ifs.isct.ac.jp\/kanri\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/Metabolic-network.jpg 1440w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Reference<\/strong><br>Tatsuya Corlett, Harrison B. Smith, Eric Smith, Joshua E. Goldford and Liam M. Longo. The history of enzyme evolution embedded in metabolism <strong><i>PNAS<\/i><\/strong> DOI: <a href=\"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1073\/pnas.2609531123\">10.1073\/pnas.2609531123<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The full press release is available on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.isct.ac.jp\/en\/news\/oco7kcs15gzt\">this page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For more information on ELSI, please visit <a href=\"https:\/\/www.elsi.jp\/en\/\">the website<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2114,"template":"","initiative":[6],"report_theme":[7],"media":[13],"report_tag":[29],"member":[82,68,65],"class_list":["post-2117","report","type-report","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","initiative-space-humanity","report_theme-report_theme-7","media-media-13","report_tag-elsi","member-eric-smith","member-harrison-b-smith","member-liam-m-longo","en-US"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.5 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ 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