Graphical Methods in Enzyme Chemistry

Abstract

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.