EFFECT OF INTERCONVERSION BETWEEN REACTANT CONFIGURATIONAL STATES OF ENZYME-KINETICS CONTROLLED BY ROTOTRANSLATIONAL DIFFUSION MOTIONS

In this paper we extend a previous model [M. Baldo, A. Grassi, and A. Raudino, J. Chem. Phys. 91, 4658 (1989)] describing the orientational effects in diffusion-controlled enzyme (or membrane surface) reactions. The present generalization takes into account the reactants internal motions involving the interconversion between configurational states, one of them being much more reactive than the others. The problem leads to a system of rotational- translational diffusion equations (RT-DEs) coupled through the interconversion reactions between the conformers. For sake of simplicity, we have restricted the analysis to the case of only two conformational states. The steady-state RT-DE with the proper boundary conditions has been solved by an exact analytical procedure, leading to a set of linear algebraic equations which have been numerically solved. The model allows one to calculate the kinetic constants of the enzyme reactions as a function of available experimental parameters, such as the rotational and translational diffusion coefficients, the reactant's orientational constraints and the rates of interconversion between its different conformations. The numerical results show a monotonous but very nonlinear increasing of the enzyme kinetic constant on raising either the rotational diffusion constant or the interconversion rate between the P+ and P- reactant's conformations. Well-defined regions where the influence of the above parameters on the enzyme kinetics reaches a maximum have been identified. © 1990 American Institute of Physics.