Santiago Schnell

Title

Better mathematical models for better measurements: Enzyme kinetics as a case study

Abstract

Enzymes are among the most important targets in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. In the laboratory we characterize the catalytic efficiency of an enzyme by measuring the Michaelis constant, KM. In this work, we present the first estimate of experimental uncertainty of KM. We discover that the experimental quantification of enzyme activity exhibits large variability in the scientific literature. The primary culprit of this variability is the lack of standardized protocols for measuring KM. These protocols requires the derivation of mathematical models governing the behavior of enzyme catalyzed reactions, and their appropriate implementation in the laboratory. In this presentation, we will illustrate how mathematical models are effectively used to develop measurements protocols, and make accurate measurements that will enable advances in the chemical, biochemical, and pharmacological sciences.

Short bio

Dr. Santiago Schnell is the John A. Jacquez Collegiate Professor of Physiology, and Professor of Computational Medicine & Bioinformatics at the University of Michigan Medical School in Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA.  Since 2017, he has been serving as interim chair of the Department of Molecular & Integrative Physiology at the same institution. In Dr. Schnell’s research group, they combine chemical kinetics with mathematical, statistical and computation methods to develop rigorous approaches to measure the rates of biochemical reactions and distinguish their molecular mechanisms under physiological conditions. His primary focus is developing standard-based approaches to investigate and measure the rates of enzyme-catalyzed.  His work has substantially altered the view of measuring and modeling enzyme-catalyzed reactions within and outside cells.