Density functional study of the enzymatic reaction catalyzed by a cyclin-dependent kinase

Density functional theory (DFT) calculations were carried out to study the molecular mechanism of the phosphoryl transfer reaction catalyzed by cyclin-dependent kinases (CDKs). The DFT study presented here shows that CDKs catalyze the phosphoryl transfer reaction from ATP to the serine substrate through a single step mechanism with a SN2-like transition state.