What is Michaelis constant?

KM (the Michaelis constant; sometimes represented as KS instead) is the substrate concentration at which the reaction velocity is 50% of the Vmax. [S] is the concentration of the substrate S.

What is Michaelis-Menten constant in biology?

The Michaelis-Menten constant is the substrate concentration at which the enzyme works at half its maximum rate. At this point, half of the active sites of the enzyme are occupied by substrate molecules.

What is the value of Michaelis constant?

The Michaelis constant Km is equal to the reactant concentration at which rA=vmax/2. Km is independent of enzyme concentration but varies from one enzyme to another and with different substrates for the same enzyme.

What is Michaelis-Menten used for?

The Michaelis–Menten equation is mainly used to characterize the enzymatic rate at different substrate concentrations, but it is also widely applied to characterize the elimination of chemical (the first-order kinetics) compounds from the body.

What does the Michaelis-Menten equation tell us?

The equation tells us that at very lower concentrations, the rate of the enzyme is directly proportional to the concentration of substrate; conversely, at very high concentrations, the rate at which the enzyme operates approaches a maximum quantity called maximum velocity.

What is a high Km value?

The value of KM is inversely related to the affinity of the enzyme for its substrate. High values of KM correspond to low enzyme affinity for substrate (it takes more substrate to get to Vmax ). Low KM values for an enzyme correspond to high affinity for substrate.

What is the significance of Km and Vmax?

Vmax is the maximum rate of an enzyme catalysed reaction i.e. when the enzyme is saturated by the substrate. Km is measure of how easily the enzyme can be saturated by the substrate. Km and Vmax are constant for a given temperature and pH and are used to characterise enzymes.

What is Km value?

Km value is equal to the substrate concentration at which half of the enzyme active sites are saturated with the substrate. It tells about the affinity of enzymes for their substrate. Km is the concentration of substrate at which half of the Vmax is attained.