title: A general pre-steady-state solution to complex kinetic mechanisms.
abstract: We have developed a general method for solving transient kinetic equations using Laplace transforms. Laplace transforms can be used to transform systems of differential equations that describe pre-steady-state kinetics to systems of linear algebraic equations. The general form of the pre-steady-state solution is (formula; see text) where I(t) is the time dependence of the physically observed property of the system, n is the number of intermediates, lambda i are the observed rate constants (reciprocals of the relaxation times), t is time, and Ii are the amplitude coefficients associated with each observed rate constant. We have written a program in compiled BASIC to run on a personal computer to evaluate Ii and lambda i. The program will evaluate the rate constants and coefficients of a mechanism with eight intermediates and seven relaxation times in 4 s on an 8-MHz PC-XT equipped with a math coprocessor. The most complex mechanism that we have solved, a mechanism containing 20 intermediates and 19 relaxation times, required approximately 5 min. We believe that this method will be useful to evaluate the differences in transient properties of complex biochemical mechanisms.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry, Eastern Virginia Medical School, Norfolk 23501.
authors.forename: X Z
authors.initials: XZ
authors.lastname: Zhang
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Strand
authors.forename: H D
authors.initials: HD
authors.lastname: White
mesh_terms: D007700:Kinetics; D008432:Mathematical Computing; D008956:Models, Chemical; D012984:Software