Steady-state kinetics of models of respiratory chain enzymes with isopotential pools and conformational site enzymes.

The formal kinetics of the respiratory chain enzymes is a very complicated mathematical problem. Our main objective here is to introduce methodology that should be useful in approaching this problem, especially at steady state. Most of the work reported here is on models that involve one or two isopotential pools of enzymes and also possibly a site enzyme between two pools that may or may not undergo a conformation change. Preliminary topics treated are the “cross-over” phenomenon and the “mass action” approximation.