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Competitive Inhibitors

AQA AS-level BiologyEnzymesLesson 12 of 17

Inhibitors are substances that interfere with the function of enzymes either directly or indirectly.

They may bind to the active site preventing the formation of enzyme substrate complexes or they may bind to an allosteric resulting in a change the shape of the active site so that the substrate is unable to bind.

Diagram

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Key terms in this lesson

active site
The region of an enzyme, formed by the tertiary structure, with a shape complementary to its substrate, where the substrate binds.
enzyme-substrate complex
The temporary structure formed when a substrate binds to the active site of an enzyme.

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