Binding Mechanism
There are two proposed models of how enzymes work: the lock and key model and the induced fit model. The lock and key model assumes that the active site is a perfect fit for a specific substrate and that once the substrate binds to the enzyme no further modification is necessary; this is simplistic. The induced fit model is a development of the lock-and-key model and instead assumes that an active site is more flexible and that the presence of certain residues (amino acids) in the active site will encourage the enzyme to locate the correct substrate, after which conformational changes may occur as the substrate is bound.
Read more about this topic: Active Site
Famous quotes containing the words binding and/or mechanism:
“[Government’s] true strength consists in leaving individuals and states as much as possible to themselves—in making itself felt, not in its power, but in its beneficence, not in its control, but in its protection, not in binding the states more closely to the center, but leaving each to move unobstructed in its proper orbit.”
—Andrew Jackson (1767–1845)
“The law isn’t justice. It’s a very imperfect mechanism. If you press exactly the right buttons and are also lucky, justice may show up in the answer. A mechanism is all the law was ever intended to be.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)