ABSTRACT
The group of irreversible inhibitors includes all compounds that react with an enzyme to form kinetically stable covalent bonds. Rate of reaction of inhibitor with enzyme can be treated by the kinetic equations that apply to an irreversible process. Any compound that reduces the velocity of an enzyme-catalyzed reaction, by whatever mechanism, is an inhibitor. Enzyme inhibitors have practical importance in fields as widely diverse as toxicology, pharmacology, food science, and nutrition. When reaction of an irreversible inhibitor with enzyme involves a group in or near the active site of the enzyme, the presence of substrate may change the rate of reaction of inhibitor with enzyme. From the type of inhibition pattern found, one should be able to make reasonable predictions as to what form of enzyme the inhibitor reacts with and the mechanism of addition of substrate to and release of products from the enzyme.
