Received February 10, 2000
An empirical equation that describes deviations from Michaelian kinetics is proposed. The equation allows the limiting values of the Michaelis constant at v/Vmax --> 0 and v/Vmax --> 1 to be estimated (v is the rate of the enzymatic reaction and Vmax is the limiting value of v at saturating concentrations of substrate). The applicability of the equation is demonstrated for kinetic data obtained for glutamate dehydrogenases from various sources (negative kinetic cooperativity for coenzyme) and for biosynthetic threonine deaminase from pea seedlings (sharper approaching the limiting value of the enzymatic reaction rate with increasing substrate concentration in comparison with the hyperbolic law). The negative cooperativity for the function of saturation of protein by ligand is also analyzed (data on binding of spin-labeled NAD, NADH, and NADPH by beef liver glutamate dehydrogenase and binding of cupric ions by BSA are used as examples).
KEY WORDS: enzyme kinetics, allosteric enzymes, negative cooperativity, glutamate dehydrogenase, biosynthetic threonine deaminase, NAD, NADH, NADPH