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Enzymes

(a) The Michaelis-Menten mechanism of enzyme catalysis


Fig.23.9 Two models that explain
the
binding of a substrate to the
active site of
an enzyme. In the lock-and-key
model,
the active site and substrate have
complementary threedimensional
structures and dock perfectly
without the
need for major atomic
rearrangements.
In the induced fit model, binding
of the
substrate induces a
confomlational change in the

The principal features of many enzyme-catalysed reactions


are as follows:
1.For a given initial concentration of substrate, [S]o' the
initial rate of product formation is proportional to the total
concentration of enzyme, [E]o.
2.For a given [E]o and low values of [S]o' the rate of product
formation is proportional to [S]0.
3.For a given [E]o and high values of [S]o the rate of product
formation becomes independent of [S]o reaching a
maximum value known as the maximum velocity, v max .

The Michaelis-Menten mechanism accounts for these


features. According to this mechanism, an enzyme-substrate
complex is formed in the first step and either the substrate is
released unchanged or after modification to form products:

. (1)

The rate of product formation according to the MichaelisMenten mechanism is

We can obtain the concentration of the enzyme-substrate


complex by invoking the steady-state approximation and
writing

It follows that

where [E] and [S] are the concentrations of free enzyme


and substrate, respectively.
Now we define the Michaelis constant as

and note that KM has the same units as molar


concentration. To express the rate law in terms of the
concentrations of enzyme and substrate added, we note
that
[E]o = [E] + [ES].
Moreover, because the substrate is typically in large
excess relative to the enzyme, the free substrate
concentration is approximately equal to the initial
substrate concentration and we can write IS] = [S]o. It
then follows that:

We obtain eqn 2 when we substitute this expression


for [ES] into that for the rate of product formation (1'
= kb[ES]).

. 2

where

is the Michaelis
constant,

characteristic of a given enzyme acting on a given


substrate.

2. When [S]o >> KM, the rate reaches its maximum value
and is independent of [S]o:

Fig.23.10 The variation of the rate of


an
enzyme-catalysed reaction with
substrate
concentration. The approach to a
maximum rate, vmax for large IS] is
explained by the Michaelis-Menten
mechanism.
Equation 2 shows that, in accord with experimental
observations (Fig. 23.10):
1. When [S]o << KM, the rate is proportional to [S]o:

Substitution of the definitions of KM and vmax into eqn 2 gives:

We can rearrange this expression into a form that is amenable


to data analysis by linear regression:

A Lineweaver-Burk plot is a plot of l/v against l/[S]o' and


according to eqn 3
it should yield a straight line with slope of KM/v max ' a yintercept at l/v max ' and an x- intercept at -11 KM (Fig.
23.11).

Fig.23.11 A Lineweaver-Burk plot for the


analysis of an enzyme-catalysed reaction
that proceeds by a Michaelis-Menten
mechanism and the significance of the
intercepts and the slope.

The catalytic efficiency of enzymes


The turnover frequency, or catalytic constant, of
an enzyme, kcat> is the number of catalytic cycles
(turnovers) performed by the active site in a given
interval divided by the duration of the interval.

kcat

vmax
kb
E o

The catalytic efficiency, (epsilon), of an enzyme


is the ratio kcat/kM

kcat
kb k a

k M ka ' kb

Mechanisms of enzyme inhibition

The lower the values of KI and KS the more


efficient are the inhibitors.

E o E EI ES ESI
E I EI E I
KI

EI
KI

ES I ESI ES I
K 'S

ESI
K 'S

E I ES ES I
E o E

KI

K I

E o 1

K 'S

I
1
K 'S

K M ES

' ES M ' ES
S

S
K M ES
ka
1
E
S

E
S

k 'a kb
KM
S

E o E ' ES
ES

ES

v kb ES

kb E o
K
M '
S

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