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Aspertate transcarbamoylase is a hexamer (recall it from chapter 6 in the regulatory enzyme section) and binds to six CTP molecules, which act as negative effector to achieve feedback inhibition. Assuming monomeric trasncarbamoylase binds to CTP with a Kd of 1mM. What is the Kd for the hexameric protein towards CTP.

a. 1nM
b. 2μM
c. 10μM
d. 1pM

1 Answer

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Final answer:

The dissociation constant (Kd) for the hexameric form of aspartate transcarbamoylase with CTP is likely to be much lower than the 1mM Kd of the monomer due to cooperative binding in the hexameric form, which increases affinity for additional CTP molecules.

Step-by-step explanation:

The question asks about the dissociation constant (Kd) for a hexameric form of the enzyme aspartate transcarbamoylase when it is binding to six molecules of CTP, given that the monomeric form binds to CTP with a Kd of 1mM. Aspartate transcarbamoylase is an enzyme involved in pyrimidine biosynthesis and is subject to feedback inhibition, an important form of allosteric regulation. In the case of a hexamer with multiple binding sites, cooperative binding is likely to occur, which means that binding of one CTP molecule to one site will increase the affinity at the remaining sites. This can be described by the Hill equation, which explains how cooperative binding affects the saturation of a ligand on a multimeric protein.

Although the precise Kd for the hexameric enzyme is not provided, we can safely assume that it will be significantly lower than the monomeric Kd due to cooperative binding effects. Thus, without the exact information but understanding the principles of allosteric regulation and cooperative binding, we can infer that the Kd for the hexameric enzyme is likely to fall in the range of nano- to picomolar concentrations (1nM or 1pM), rather than being on the scale of micromolar concentrations. The exact answer would require additional information or experimental data not provided in the question.

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