Lineweaver–Burk plot
In biochemistry, the Lineweaver–Burk plot (or double reciprocal plot) is a graphical representation of the Lineweaver–Burk equation of enzyme kinetics, described by Hans Lineweaver and Dean Burk in 1934.[1]
Derivation
The plot provides a useful graphical method for analysis of the Michaelis–Menten equation, as it is difficult to determine precisely the Vmax of an enzyme-catalysed reaction:
Taking the reciprocal gives:
where V is the reaction velocity (the reaction rate), Km is the Michaelis–Menten constant, Vmax is the maximum reaction velocity, and [S] is the substrate concentration.
The Lineweaver-Burk plot puts 1/[S] on the x-axis and 1/V on the y-axis.[2]
Use
The Lineweaver–Burk plot was widely used to determine important terms in enzyme kinetics, such as Km and Vmax, before the wide availability of powerful computers and non-linear regression software. The y-intercept of such a graph is equivalent to the inverse of Vmax; the x-intercept of the graph represents −1/Km. It also gives a quick, visual impression of the different forms of enzyme inhibition.[3]
The double reciprocal plot distorts the error structure of the data, and it is therefore unreliable for the determination of enzyme kinetic parameters.[4] Although it is still used for representation of kinetic data,[5] non-linear regression or alternative linear forms of the Michaelis–Menten equation such as the Hanes-Woolf plot or Eadie–Hofstee plot are generally used for the calculation of parameters.[6]
When used for determining the type of enzyme inhibition, the Lineweaver–Burk plot can distinguish competitive, non-competitive and uncompetitive inhibitors. Competitive inhibitors have the same y-intercept as uninhibited enzyme (since Vmax is unaffected by competitive inhibitors the inverse of Vmax also doesn't change) but there are different slopes and x-intercepts between the two data sets. Non-competitive inhibition produces plots with the same x-intercept as uninhibited enzyme (Km is unaffected) but different slopes and y-intercepts. Uncompetitive inhibition causes different intercepts on both the y- and x-axes.[3]
Problems with the method
The Lineweaver–Burk plot is classically used in older texts, but is prone to error, as the y-axis takes the reciprocal of the rate of reaction – in turn increasing any small errors in measurement. Also, most points on the plot are found far to the right of the y-axis. Large values of [S] (and hence small values for 1/[S] on the plot) are often not possible due to limited solubility, calling for a large extrapolation back to obtain x- and y-intercepts.[7]
References
- Lineweaver, Hans; Burk, Dean (March 1934). "The Determination of Enzyme Dissociation Constants". Journal of the American Chemical Society. 56 (3): 658–666. doi:10.1021/ja01318a036. ISSN 0002-7863.
- Christensen, Siegfried B.; DeWolf, Walter E.; Ryan, M. Dominic; Torphy, Theodore J. (1996-01-01), Schudt, Christian; Dent, Gordon; Rabe, Klaus F. (eds.), "13 - Molecular Aspects of Inhibitor Interaction with PDE4", Phosphodiesterase Inhibitors, Handbook of Immunopharmacology, San Diego: Academic Press, pp. 185–207, doi:10.1016/b978-012210720-7/50015-0, ISBN 978-0-12-210720-7, retrieved 2020-12-15
- Srinivasan, Bharath (2020-09-27). "Words of advice: teaching enzyme kinetics". The FEBS Journal. doi:10.1111/febs.15537. ISSN 1742-464X. PMID 32981225.
- Srinivasan, Bharath (2020-10-08). "Explicit Treatment of Non Michaelis-Menten and Atypical Kinetics in Early Drug Discovery". dx.doi.org. doi:10.20944/preprints202010.0179.v1. Retrieved 2020-11-09.
- Hayakawa, K.; Guo, L.; Terentyeva, E.A.; Li, X.K.; Kimura, H.; Hirano, M.; Yoshikawa, K.; Nagamine, T.; et al. (2006). "Determination of specific activities and kinetic constants of biotinidase and lipoamidase in LEW rat and Lactobacillus casei (Shirota)". Journal of Chromatography B. 844 (2): 240–50. doi:10.1016/j.jchromb.2006.07.006. PMID 16876490.
- Greco, W.R.; Hakala, M.T. (1979). "Evaluation of methods for estimating the dissociation constant of tight binding enzyme inhibitors" (PDF). Journal of Biological Chemistry. 254 (23): 12104–12109. PMID 500698.
- Dowd, John E.; Riggs, Douglas S. (1965). "A comparison of estimates of Michaelis–Menten kinetic constants from various linear transformations" (PDF). Journal of Biological Chemistry. 240 (2): 863–869.
External links
- NIH guide, enzyme assay development and analysis