Mixed inhibition is a type of enzyme inhibition in which the inhibitor may bind to the enzyme whether or not the enzyme has already bound the substrate but has a greater affinity for one state or the other. [1] It is called "mixed" because it can be seen as a conceptual "mixture" of competitive inhibition, in which the inhibitor can only bind the enzyme if the substrate has not already bound, and uncompetitive inhibition, in which the inhibitor can only bind the enzyme if the substrate has already bound. If the ability of the inhibitor to bind the enzyme is exactly the same whether or not the enzyme has already bound the substrate, it is known as a non-competitive inhibitor. [1] [2] Non-competitive inhibition is sometimes thought of as a special case of mixed inhibition.
In mixed inhibition, the inhibitor binds to an allosteric site, i.e. a site different from the active site where the substrate binds. However, not all inhibitors that bind at allosteric sites are mixed inhibitors. [1]
Mixed inhibition may result in either:
In either case the inhibition decreases the apparent maximum enzyme reaction rate (). [3]
Mathematically, mixed inhibition occurs when the factors α and α’ (introduced into the Michaelis-Menten equation to account for competitive and uncompetitive inhibition, respectively) are both greater than 1.
In the special case where α = α’, noncompetitive inhibition occurs, in which case is reduced but is unaffected. This is very unusual in practice. [3]
In gluconeogenesis, the enzyme cPEPCK (cytosolic phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase) is responsible for converting oxaloacetate into phosphoenolpyruvic acid, or PEP, when guanosine triphosphate, GTP, is present. This step is exclusive for gluconeogenesis, which occurs under fasting condition's due to the body's depletion of glucose. cPEPCK is known to be regulated by Genistein, an isoflavone that is naturally found in a number of plants. [4] It was first proven that genistein inhibits the activity of cPEPCK. In a study, the presence of this isoflavone resulted in a decrease in the level of blood sugar. A lowered blood sugar level means less glucose is in the blood. If this occurs in a subject that is fasting, this is because the gluconeogenesis was inhibited, preventing increased production of glucose. The ability of genistein to lower a person's blood sugar level allows it to be referred to as an anti-diabetic property. [4] The mechanism in which genistein inhibited the enzyme cPEPCK was further evaluated. First, cPEPCK was placed in the presence of 3-Mercaptopropionic acid, or 3-MPA, a known inhibitor of the enzyme. It was compared to the results of placing cPEPCK in the presence of genistein, which revealed that the mechanism of mixed inhibition was used to decrease cPEPCK's activity. [4] cPEPCK undergoes multiple configurations when catalyzing the formation of PEP. It can be either unbound, bound to GDP or bound to GTP. An experiment that studied the affinity for genistein in these different configurations was conducted. It revealed that geinstein favors binding to the cPEPCK with a bound GTP than then the enzyme with a bound GDP, which was found to be less stable. [4] This was because the GTP-bound cPEPCK revealed an extended binding site for genistein. [4] This is the same binding site as the enzyme's intended substrate, oxaloacetate while the other configurations did not do so in the presence of genistein. [4] This provided evidence that the mechanism of inhibition of cPEPCK by genistein was a mixture of competitive and non-competitive inhibition.
A kallikrein is a type of serine protease, which cleaves peptide bonds after certain amino acids in a protein. These 15 kallikreins, KLK1 to KLK15, are found in human tissues. The ability for this molecule to cleave proteins results in the effective activation of cell surface receptors, making them crucial elements of many biological signal transduction pathways, and its amplification through cascades. This family of serine proteases is often a biomarker to diseases, and therefore, have become a target for inhibition. [5] Inhibition of these kallikreins results in possible therapy for diseases such as metastatic cancer or Alzheimer's disease. [5] Fukugetin, or (+)-morelloflavone, is a type of plant biflavonoid isolated from Garcinia brasiliensis. [5] After isolating fukugetin, it was placed with KLK1, KLK2, KLK3, KLK4, KLK5, KLK6, and KLK7 in varying concentrations. [5] This allowed for the analysis of enzyme kinetics through derivation of parameters Km and Vmax. Through the model of Michaelis-Menten kinetics, the Eadie-Hofstee diagram was plotted. [5] It confirmed that fukugetin acts as a mixed inhibitor by exhibiting varying but present affinities for the enzyme alone and the enzyme-substrate complex. Analyzing through kinetics, fukugetin decreased the Vmax while it increased the Km for these KLKs. [5] Typically, in competitive inhibition, Vmax remains the same while Km increases, and in non-competitive inhibition, Vmax decreases while Km remains the same. The change in both of these variables is another finding consistent with the effects of a mixed inhibitor.
Enzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts by accelerating chemical reactions. The molecules upon which enzymes may act are called substrates, and the enzyme converts the substrates into different molecules known as products. Almost all metabolic processes in the cell need enzyme catalysis in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain life. Metabolic pathways depend upon enzymes to catalyze individual steps. The study of enzymes is called enzymology and the field of pseudoenzyme analysis recognizes that during evolution, some enzymes have lost the ability to carry out biological catalysis, which is often reflected in their amino acid sequences and unusual 'pseudocatalytic' properties.
In the fields of biochemistry and pharmacology an allosteric regulator is a substance that binds to a site on an enzyme or receptor distinct from the active site, resulting in a conformational change that alters the protein's activity, either enhancing or inhibiting its function. In contrast, substances that bind directly to an enzyme's active site or the binding site of the endogenous ligand of a receptor are called orthosteric regulators or modulators.
In biochemistry, Michaelis–Menten kinetics, named after Leonor Michaelis and Maud Menten, is the simplest case of enzyme kinetics, applied to enzyme-catalysed reactions of one substrate and one product. It takes the form of a differential equation describing the reaction rate to , the concentration of the substrate A. Its formula is given by the Michaelis–Menten equation:
Phosphofructokinase-1 (PFK-1) is one of the most important regulatory enzymes of glycolysis. It is an allosteric enzyme made of 4 subunits and controlled by many activators and inhibitors. PFK-1 catalyzes the important "committed" step of glycolysis, the conversion of fructose 6-phosphate and ATP to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and ADP. Glycolysis is the foundation for respiration, both anaerobic and aerobic. Because phosphofructokinase (PFK) catalyzes the ATP-dependent phosphorylation to convert fructose-6-phosphate into fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and ADP, it is one of the key regulatory steps of glycolysis. PFK is able to regulate glycolysis through allosteric inhibition, and in this way, the cell can increase or decrease the rate of glycolysis in response to the cell's energy requirements. For example, a high ratio of ATP to ADP will inhibit PFK and glycolysis. The key difference between the regulation of PFK in eukaryotes and prokaryotes is that in eukaryotes PFK is activated by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate. The purpose of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is to supersede ATP inhibition, thus allowing eukaryotes to have greater sensitivity to regulation by hormones like glucagon and insulin.
In biochemistry and molecular biology, a binding site is a region on a macromolecule such as a protein that binds to another molecule with specificity. The binding partner of the macromolecule is often referred to as a ligand. Ligands may include other proteins, enzyme substrates, second messengers, hormones, or allosteric modulators. The binding event is often, but not always, accompanied by a conformational change that alters the protein's function. Binding to protein binding sites is most often reversible, but can also be covalent reversible or irreversible.
In biochemistry, the Lineweaver–Burk plot is a graphical representation of the Michaelis–Menten equation of enzyme kinetics, described by Hans Lineweaver and Dean Burk in 1934.
In biochemistry and pharmacology, receptors are chemical structures, composed of protein, that receive and transduce signals that may be integrated into biological systems. These signals are typically chemical messengers which bind to a receptor and produce physiological responses such as change in the electrical activity of a cell. For example, GABA, an inhibitory neurotransmitter, inhibits electrical activity of neurons by binding to GABAA receptors. There are three main ways the action of the receptor can be classified: relay of signal, amplification, or integration. Relaying sends the signal onward, amplification increases the effect of a single ligand, and integration allows the signal to be incorporated into another biochemical pathway.
Glutamate dehydrogenase is an enzyme observed in both prokaryotes and eukaryotic mitochondria. The aforementioned reaction also yields ammonia, which in eukaryotes is canonically processed as a substrate in the urea cycle. Typically, the α-ketoglutarate to glutamate reaction does not occur in mammals, as glutamate dehydrogenase equilibrium favours the production of ammonia and α-ketoglutarate. Glutamate dehydrogenase also has a very low affinity for ammonia, and therefore toxic levels of ammonia would have to be present in the body for the reverse reaction to proceed. However, in brain, the NAD+/NADH ratio in brain mitochondria encourages oxidative deamination. In bacteria, the ammonia is assimilated to amino acids via glutamate and aminotransferases. In plants, the enzyme can work in either direction depending on environment and stress. Transgenic plants expressing microbial GLDHs are improved in tolerance to herbicide, water deficit, and pathogen infections. They are more nutritionally valuable.
Half maximal inhibitory concentration (IC50) is a measure of the potency of a substance in inhibiting a specific biological or biochemical function. IC50 is a quantitative measure that indicates how much of a particular inhibitory substance (e.g. drug) is needed to inhibit, in vitro, a given biological process or biological component by 50%. The biological component could be an enzyme, cell, cell receptor or microbe. IC50 values are typically expressed as molar concentration.
Non-competitive inhibition is a type of enzyme inhibition where the inhibitor reduces the activity of the enzyme and binds equally well to the enzyme whether or not it has already bound the substrate. This is unlike competitive inhibition, where binding affinity for the substrate in the enzyme is decreased in the presence of an inhibitor.
Enzyme kinetics is the study of the rates of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions. In enzyme kinetics, the reaction rate is measured and the effects of varying the conditions of the reaction are investigated. Studying an enzyme's kinetics in this way can reveal the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme, its role in metabolism, how its activity is controlled, and how a drug or a modifier might affect the rate.
GLUD1 is a mitochondrial matrix enzyme, one of the family of glutamate dehydrogenases that are ubiquitous in life, with a key role in nitrogen and glutamate (Glu) metabolism and energy homeostasis. This dehydrogenase is expressed at high levels in liver, brain, pancreas and kidney, but not in muscle. In the pancreatic cells, GLUD1 is thought to be involved in insulin secretion mechanisms. In nervous tissue, where glutamate is present in concentrations higher than in the other tissues, GLUD1 appears to function in both the synthesis and the catabolism of glutamate and perhaps in ammonia detoxification.
Uncompetitive inhibition is a type of inhibition in which the apparent values of the Michaelis–Menten parameters and are decreased in the same proportion.
An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to an enzyme and blocks its activity. Enzymes are proteins that speed up chemical reactions necessary for life, in which substrate molecules are converted into products. An enzyme facilitates a specific chemical reaction by binding the substrate to its active site, a specialized area on the enzyme that accelerates the most difficult step of the reaction.
3′,5′-cyclic-nucleotide phosphodiesterases (EC 3.1.4.17) are a family of phosphodiesterases. Generally, these enzymes hydrolyze a nucleoside 3′,5′-cyclic phosphate to a nucleoside 5′-phosphate:
Phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase is an enzyme in the lyase family used in the metabolic pathway of gluconeogenesis. It converts oxaloacetate into phosphoenolpyruvate and carbon dioxide.
α-Glucosidase (EC 3.2.1.20, is a glucosidase located in the brush border of the small intestine that acts upon α bonds:
Bithionol is an antibacterial, anthelmintic, and algaecide. It is used to treat Anoplocephala perfoliata (tapeworms) in horses and Fasciola hepatica.
Substrate analogs, are chemical compounds with a chemical structure that resemble the substrate molecule in an enzyme-catalyzed chemical reaction. Substrate analogs can act as competitive inhibitors of an enzymatic reaction. An example is phosphoramidate to the Tetrahymena group I ribozyme. Other examples of substrate analogs include 5’-adenylyl-imidodiphosphate, a substrate analog of ATP, and 3-acetylpyridine adenine dinucleotide, a substrate analog of NADH.
Competitive inhibition is interruption of a chemical pathway owing to one chemical substance inhibiting the effect of another by competing with it for binding or bonding. Any metabolic or chemical messenger system can potentially be affected by this principle, but several classes of competitive inhibition are especially important in biochemistry and medicine, including the competitive form of enzyme inhibition, the competitive form of receptor antagonism, the competitive form of antimetabolite activity, and the competitive form of poisoning.