COMPUTER ALGEBRA APPROACHES TO ENZYME-KINETICS

The rate law governing the kinetics of a single enzyme mediated reaction may be derived relatively easily by band given knowledge of the enzyme's mechanism. Such rate laws are typically non-linear in the concentrations of metabolites involved. When a number of enzymes interact the composite rate law for the complete system involves the simultaneous solution of the individual enzyme rate laws. We show how computer algebra can be used to solve this previously intractable problem, using the method of Grobner Bases. We present an experimental example where kinetic parameters for individual enzymes are measured by making observations of a multi-enzyme system, and fitting these data to the rate law for the complete system.