Supramolecular Autoregulation

Enzyme activity in biological systems is often governed by control mechanisms in which the catalytic properties are made sensitive or insensitive to differences in enzyme or substrate concentration. Here, we report the first supramolecular system where the catalytic activity is made concentration independent through the use of newly designed inhibitor molecules. The precise concentration dependence of coupled supramolecular equilibriums between free catalyst, inhibited catalyst, active inhibitor, and inactive inhibitor allows to keep the concentration of free catalyst at 1 mM in a broad concentration range, yielding an autoregulated catalytic system.