Competitive inhibitors

• How do competitive inhibitors work?

  -the inhibitor is a similar shape to the substrate

  -this is so it can bind with the active site of the enzyme (competing with the substrate to bind to the active site)

  -this reduces the number of enzyme-substrate complexes that can form

  -so, rate decreases
• Label this diagram

  A) competitive inhibitor

  B) substrate

  C) enzyme

  
• How do competitive inhibitors affect the rate of reaction?

  -at high substrate concentrations, competitive inhibitors don't affect the rate

  -this is because the high concentration of substrate means that it is more likely that an enzyme will collide with a substrate than an inhibitor