Journal of Physical Chemistry & Biophysics
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0398
ISSN: 2161-0398
Department of Sciences, Institute of Biology, University of Neuchâtel, Neuchâtel, Switzerland
Research Article
SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: A Kinetic Approach
Author(s): Thierry Rebetez*
Background: In this article, I present a new model of the interaction of the main protease (Mpro) from
SARS-CoV-2 virus with its substrate. The reaction scheme used to describe this mechanism is an extension
of the well-known Michaelis-Menten model proposed in 1913 by Leonor Michaelis and Maud Menten.
The model I present here takes into account that one Mpro enzyme monomer interacts with another
Mpro monomer in the presence of the substrate, leading to the formation of an enzyme dimer bound to
one substrate molecule. This reaction mechanism is also known in the literature as substrate-induced
dimerization.
Methods: Starting from this new reaction scheme, I derived a mathematical expression describing the
catalytic rate of the active Mpro enzyme dimer as a function of the substrat.. View More»
DOI:
10.35248/2161-0398.22.12.331