Question

Three different small organic ligands can each bind to a protein but only one ligand can bind to the protein at a time. The KD for ligand 1 binding to the protein is 100 nM The KD for ligand 2 binding to the protein is 72 nM The KD for ligand 3 binding to the protein is 9 nM Which of the three ligands binds tightest to the protein?

Answer 1

Step-by-step explanation:

The binding affinity in ligand binding is measured using the equilibrium dissociation constant (KD).

The larger the dissociation constant value, the more weakly the target molecule and ligand are attracted to and bind to one another.

This, in this case study, the ligand that binds tightest to the protein is ligand 3 with a binding affinity of 9nM followed by Ligand 2 and then 1.