Linkage thermodynamics of individual site binding phenomena.

The principles of linkage thermodynamics are extended to the analysis of individual site binding phenomena in biological macromolecules. A group of thermodynamic potentials is introduced for the description of linkage among the sites. These potentials are isomorphic with Wyman's linkage potentials derived for the description of the mutual interference of different ligands. Thermodynamic stability principles are used to show how they affect individual site binding phenomena and give rise to possible paradoxes.