An 'Aufbau' Approach To Understanding How the King-Altman Method of Deriving Rate Equations for Enzyme-Catalyzed Reactions Works

摘要

Although the King—Altman method of deriving rateequations for enzyme-catalyzed reactions was introduced over50 years ago (1), the method still enjoys widespread use becauseof its versatility and utility. In fact, in a recent, authoritative bookon enzyme kinetics the authors make extensive use of the King—Altman method (2). As an indication of the utility of the King—Altman method, I have found that undergraduate students inbiochemistry are capable of learning how to use this methodquite well. My impression is that at first the method appearsintimidating, but after some practice the students find that themethod is not too difficult to apply to moderately complicatedcases. In fact, after some of these students become reasonablyproficient at using the method, they seem to exude a sense ofsatisfaction. I might even go so far as to say that some of thestudents enjoy this practice. Well, perhaps that is going too far.Nonetheless, some students will eventually express curiosity as tohow this method works. I realized that to answer these studentsI could not simply refer them to the original article by King andAltman, even though this article contains a justification of themethod. Unless one is well versed in linear algebra, this articleis challenging to read.