Intrigued by the molecular details of how
enzymes worked, he next joined the lab of Michael Toney, where he set out to understand how electrons and protons move during catalysis
by analyzing how mutations in the
enzyme's functional site affected the reaction mechanism.
An
intriguing finding of the research, say scientists, was that elafin,
by interacting with the transglutaminase 2
enzyme, decreased the enzymatic reaction that increases the toxicity of peptides derived from gluten.