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Ribbon diagram of dihydrofolate reductase

Enzyme kinetics is the study of the rates of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions where the reaction rate is measured and the effects of varying the conditions of the reaction are investigated. The study of an enzyme's kinetics can reveal the catalytic mechanism of the enzyme, its role in metabolism, how its activity is controlled, and how a modifier might affect the rate. Some enzymes change shape significantly during the mechanism; in such cases, it is helpful to determine the enzyme structure with and without bound substrate analogues that do not undergo the enzymatic reaction. When enzymes bind multiple substrates, enzyme kinetics can show the sequence in which these substrates bind and determine the sequence in which products are released. There is typically one rate-determining step that determines the overall kinetics, which may be a chemical reaction or a conformational change of the enzyme or substrates. (Full article...)