Rigorous Analysis of the Quasi-Steady-State Assumption in Enzyme Kinetics.

We study, from a purely quantitative point of view, the quasi-steady-state assumption for the fundamental mathematical model of the general enzymatic reaction. In particular, (i) we introduce a simple, yet generic, algorithm for the proper scaling of the corresponding problem, (ii) we define the two essential parts (the standard and the reverse) of the quasi-steady-state assumption in a quantitative fashion, and (iii) we comment on the dispensable, although widely adopted, third part (the total) of it. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]