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The binding capacity is a probability density function

  • E. Di Cera*
  • , Z. Q. Chen
  • *Corresponding author for this work
  • Washington University St. Louis

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

The binding capacity of a system, or equivalently, the fluctuations of the number of ligands bound around the average value defined by the binding isotherm, can be regarded as a probability density function for the chemical potential of the ligand. The first moment of this density function is the mean ligand activity as defined by Wyman and gives the average free energy (in kT units) of binding per site. The second moment is directly related to the cooperativity of the system. These and higher moments can be obtained from numerical integration of experimental data in a direct way. An analytical expression for the moment generating function shows that the N independent coefficients of the partition function of a system containing N sites are uniquely defined by the first N moments of the binding capacity.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)164-170
Number of pages7
JournalBiophysical Journal
Volume65
Issue number1
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1993
Externally publishedYes

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