Questioning the reliability of estimates of enzyme inhibitor constant: Case of competitive inhibition

Abstract

Reliability of kinetic parameters are crucial in understanding enzyme kinetics within cellular system. The present study suggests a few cautions that need introspection for estimation of parameters like K(M), V(max) and K(I) using Lineweaver-Burk plots. The quality of IC(50) too needs a thorough reinvestigation because of its direct link with K(I) and K(M) values. Inhibition kinetics under both steady-state and non-steady-state conditions are studied and errors in estimated parameters are compared against actual values to settle the question of their adequacy.