Binding site
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In biochemistry, a binding site is a region on a protein, DNA, or RNA to which specific other molecules and ions — in this context collectively called ligands, or more specifically, protein ligands — form a chemical bond.
The term saturation refers to the fraction of total binding sites that are occupied at any given time.
When more than one type of ligand can bind to a binding site, competition ensues.
An equilibrium exists between unbound ligands and bound ligands.
Binding sites also exhibit chemical specificity, a measure of the types of ligands that will bond, and affinity, which is a measure of the strength of the chemical bond.
A more specific type of binding site is the transcription factor binding site, present on DNA.
[edit] See also
 |
This biochemistry article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
