Question

What is competitive inhibition?

Answer 1

Enzyme and substrate binding:

1. An enzyme possesses a distinct cavity or cleft, in which substrate is bound.
2. The substrate goes and binds to the active site of an enzyme and produces an enzyme-substrate complex.
3. This complex soon gets transformed into an enzyme-product complex.
4. This complex breaks up into chemical product (p) and enzyme unchanged.

Enzyme inhibition:

1. The activity of an enzyme is very sensitive to the presence of specific chemicals (substrate), which binds to an enzyme.
2. When the binding of a chemical shuts off the enzymatic activity is called inhibition. The substance causing inhibition is known as an inhibitor.
3. Enzyme inhibition is of two types namely- competitive and non-competitive.

Competitive inhibition:

1. In this kind of inhibition, the inhibitor competes with the substrate for binding to the active site of an enzyme.
2. This type of inhibitor shares structural similarities with the substrate.
3. Thus, the substrate cannot bind and enzyme action declines.