A generalized theoretical treatment of the kinetics of an enzyme-catalysed reaction in the presence of an unstable irreversible modifier.

A generalized theoretical treatment of the kinetics of an enzyme-catalysed reaction in the presence of an unstable irreversible inhibitor (or activator) is presented. Analytical expressions describing the time-dependence of product formation have been derived in coefficient form amenable to non-linear regression analysis for two operationally distinct types of reaction mechanism dependent on whether the reaction of the unstable modifier (X) with either or both the free enzyme (E) and enzyme-substrate complex (ES) occurs as a simple bimolecular process, or proceeds through the intermediacy of either or both adsorptive enzyme-modifier (EX) and enzyme-modifier-substrate (EXS) complexes in what may be considered as an extension of the Botts-Morales general modifier mechanism for (stable) reversible enzyme inhibitors and activators. Special cases of both models are classified in an analogous way to the traditional naming of reversible enzyme modifications, and guidelines concerning tests of mechanism and determination of kinetic parameters are given. In particular, it has been shown that kinetic constants describing enzyme inactivation by an unstable site-specific inhibitor forming a reversible EX complex prior to covalent modification step may be determined from a single progress curve. Kinetic analysis of the extended Botts-Morales mechanism describing irreversible enzyme inactivation has demonstrated that analytical expressions describing the time-course of product formation may be derived for a stable modifier by retaining the usual steady-state assumptions regarding the fluxes around ES and EXS provided quasi-equilibrium modifier binding to E and ES is assumed, but for unstable modifiers all of the binding steps must be assumed to be at quasi-equilibrium in the steady-state, except under restrictive circumstances.