A general model for non-autocatalytic zymogen activation in the presence of two different and mutually exclusive inhibitors. I. Kinetic analysis

In this paper, a general mechanism of zymogen activation and the simultaneous action of two different, mutually exclusive, two-step inhibitors acting on both the activating and the activated enzymes is proposed and kinetically analyzed. This generalization offers the advantage of being applicable to a high number of real cases, since most mechanisms of zymogen activation involving reversible or irreversible, one or two step, equal or different inhibitors are particular cases of the general model here studied. Analogously, from the equations corresponding to the general model or from any of their particular cases, it is possible to obtain the equations corresponding to cases in which one or more of the reversible steps are in rapid equilibrium. The number and type of the particular cases arising from the general model are obtained in a systematic way.