Link to Pubmed [PMID] – 11925426
J. Biol. Chem. 2002 May;277(22):19243-6
A method is introduced to identify amino acid residues that dictate the functional diversity acquired during evolution in a protein family. Using over 80 enzymes of the chymotrypsin family, we demonstrate that the general organization of the phylogenetic tree and its functional branch points are fully accounted for by a limited number of residues that cluster around the active site of the protein and define the contact region with the P1-P4 residues of substrate.