Michaelis-Menten constant: Difference between revisions
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
Created page with "The Michaelis-Menten describes and enzyme reaction and is as follows: === V= Vmax[S]/Km[S] === V= is the rate of the reaction Vmax= is the maximal rate of the reaction Km..." |
(No difference)
|
Revision as of 11:08, 16 October 2014
The Michaelis-Menten describes and enzyme reaction and is as follows:
V= Vmax[S]/Km[S]
V= is the rate of the reaction
Vmax= is the maximal rate of the reaction
Km= the concentration at which Vmax is 1/2
Using the Km, this equation is useful to tell the affinity an enzyme has for its substrate. If the Km is high, this means the concentration at which 1/2Vmax is reached is high, so the affinity the enzyme has for its substrate is low (because a lot of substrate is needed to reach 1/2 Vmax). If Km is low, this means the affinity is high, because less substrate was needed to get to half the maximal rate of the reaction (Vmax).