title: Preferential ligand binding to multi-state acceptor systems: the unexplored paradox of acceptor self-association that is ligand-mediated but detrimental to ligand binding.
abstract: Consideration is given to the interactions of ligand with self-associating acceptor systems for which preferential ligand binding is an ambiguous term, in that the acceptor species with greater affinity for ligand possesses relatively fewer binding sites. A paradoxical situation wherein ligand-mediated self-association is seemingly detrimental to ligand binding is shown to be the predicted outcome for a transient range of ligand concentrations. This outcome reflects the existence of a critical point in the dependence of the extent of acceptor self-association upon ligand concentration that coincides with a cross-over point of ligand-binding curves for different, fixed total concentrations of acceptor. By classical differentiation methods the conditions for the existence of these critical points are established not only for two-state acceptor systems but also for three-state acceptor systems in which the ligand-binding form of monomer also undergoes reversible isomerization to an inactive state. Similar procedures are used to comment upon the forms of binding curves for the three-state acceptor systems, the Scatchard representations of which may exhibit as many as three critical points (two maxima and a minimum). This delineation of quantitative expressions for critical points and other distinctive features associated with the conflicting interplay of ligand-binding and self-association behaviour should provide a more definitive means of characterizing systems with one acceptor state the preferred binding form on affinity grounds but with the other the preferred state from the viewpoint of binding-site numbers.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, University of Queensland, St. Lucia, Australia.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gow
authors.forename: D J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Winzor
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Smith
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001665:Binding Sites; D008024:Ligands; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological
chemical_list: D008024:Ligands