Nature 179, 832 (20 April 1957); doi:10.1038/179832b0

Graphical Methods in Enzyme Chemistry

J. B. S. HALDANE

University College, Gower Street, London, W.C.1.

IN 1932, Dr. Kurt Stern published a German translation of my book "Enzymes"¹, with numerous additions to the English text. On pp. 119–120, I described some graphical methods, stating that they were due to my friend Dr. Barnett Woolf. Michaelis's equation may be written , where x is the substrate concentration at any moment, v the velocity with which the substrate is being destroyed, V the velocity when the enzyme is saturated, and K the Michaelis constant. Woolf pointed out that linear graphs are obtained when v is plotted against vx ^-1, v ^-1 against x ^-1, or v ^-1 x against x, the first plot being most convenient unless inhibition is being studied. But competitive inhibition gives a pencil of lines through the point (0,V ^-1), while non-competitive inhibition gives a pencil through the point (- K ^-1, 0), when v ^-1 is plotted against x ^-1.

1. Haldane, J. B. S. , and Stern, K. , "Allgemeine Chemie der Enzyme" (Steinkopf, Leipzig and Berlin, 1932).
2. Lineweaver, H. , and Burk, D. , J. Amer. Chem. Soc., 56, 658 (1934). | Article | ChemPort |
3. Hofstee, B. H. J. , Enzymologia, 17, 273 (1956). | PubMed | ChemPort |