title: Viscoelastic models for enzymes with multiple conformational states.
abstract: In this article we represent an enzyme capable of exhibiting more than one conformational state as a viscoelastic unit embedded in a fluid medium. We show how this viscoelastic unit is thermally activated to make transitions between equilibrium states, and propose this model as a mesoscopic representation for transitions between conformational states of an enzyme. In this representation, kinetic constants for transitions between conformations are given explicitly in terms of interactions between the enzyme and the medium. Two applications of this model are discussed: mnemonic enzymes, and co-operative enzymes exhibiting half-of-the-sites reactivity.
authors.affiliation: Departamento de Biofisica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad de la Republica, Montevideo, Uruguay.
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Mizraji
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Acerenza
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Lin
mesh_terms: D000494:Allosteric Regulation; D004548:Elasticity; D004798:Enzymes; D008433:Mathematics; D008954:Models, Biological; D011487:Protein Conformation; D014783:Viscosity
chemical_list: D004798:Enzymes