A SIMPLIFIED APPROACH TO THE USE OF DETERMINANTS IN THE CALCULATION OF THE RATE EQUATION FOR A COMPLEX ENZYME SYSTEM

Abstract

A standardized method of treating the analysis of enzymic reaction mechanisms by means of determinant expressions is given. The fully expanded polynomial expressions for systems of order three, four, and five are presented and their use described. Application of the method to the analysis of the effect of dead-end inhibitors on enzymic reactions is discussed and the inhibitor constants are evaluated in terms of the rate constants involved in the inhibition mechanism. Examples are given to demonstrate the contribution that inhibitor studies may make in the search for information concerning the nature of the enzymic reaction mechanism, in the calculation of the rate constants, and in the estimation of the proportion of the enzyme distributed between the different enzyme forms involved in the reaction.