Steady-state kinetic formalism applied to multienzyme complexes, oxidative phosphorylation, and interacting enzymes

Abstract

A kinetic formalism, quite generally valid for free energy transducing, steady-state, macromolecular systems in biology, is applied here to multienzyme complexes, oxidative phosphorylation, and interacting enzymes. Systems of this type, comprising several interacting subunits, each with its own discrete set of states, present no new features in principle. Hence, they may be handled by the earlier kinetic formalism without modification. However, the kinetic diagram can become quite complicated because the state of each subunit (enzyme) must be specified in order to specify any one state of the system (complex) as a whole. Cycles, forces, fluxes, free energy levels, and state probabilities are considered.