Enzyme Kinetics, Modeling of

Definition

Mathematical formulation of the rates of chemical reactions that are catalyzed by enzymes, which are molecules that are regenerated as part of the chemical reaction.

Detailed Description

Models of reaction–diffusion systems consist of bimolecular reactions, enzyme reactions, and diffusion. An enzyme is a molecule that facilitates a reaction or transformation of a substrate molecule into a different molecule(s), known as the product. For example, ATP can be transformed into cAMP + PPi spontaneously at an extremely low rate; adenylyl cyclase is an enzyme that greatly facilitates the transformation. The theory behind enzyme reactions is that a large energy barrier prevents a reaction from occurring spontaneously, and the enzyme lowers the energy barrier.

Enzyme reactions are modeled as a series of elementary reactions. First, the enzyme (E) and substrate (S) bind to each other to form the enzyme-substrate complex (ES). Second, the substrate is transformed into the products....