Paper Info
Title
Complex Reaction Kinetics in Chemistry: A Unified Picture Suggested by Mechanics in Physics.
Abstract
Complex biochemical pathways can be reduced to chains of elementary reactions, which can be described in terms of chemical kinetics. Among the elementary reactions so far extensively investigated, we recall the Michaelis-Menten and the Hill positive-cooperative kinetics, which apply to molecular binding and are characterized by the absence and the presence, respectively, of cooperative interactions between binding sites. However, there is evidence of reactions displaying a more complex pattern: these follow the positive-cooperative scenario at small substrate concentration, yet negative-cooperative effects emerge as the substrate concentration is increased. Here, we analyze the formal analogy between the mathematical backbone of (classical) reaction kinetics in Chemistry and that of (classical) mechanics in Physics. We first show that standard cooperative kinetics can be framed in terms of classical mechanics, where the emerging phenomenology can be obtained by applying the principle of least action of classical mechanics. Further, since the saturation function plays in Chemistry the same role played by velocity in Physics, we show that a relativistic scaffold naturally accounts for the kinetics of the above-mentioned complex reactions. The proposed formalism yields to a unique, consistent picture for cooperative-like reactions and to a stronger mathematical control.
Year
DOI
Venue
2018
10.1155/2018/7423297
COMPLEXITY
Field
DocType
Volume
Substrate (chemistry),Regulatory enzymes,Chemical kinetics,Molecular binding,Mechanics,Elementary reaction,Analogy,Kinetics,Physics
Journal
2018
ISSN
Citations 
PageRank 
1076-2787
0
0.34
References 
Authors
3
5
Name
Order
Citations
PageRank
Elena Agliari1184.19
Adriano Barra2438.13
Giulio Landolfi300.34
Sara Murciano400.34
Sarah Perrone500.34