Malonate inhibits succinate dehydrogenase because it resembles succinate. This is an example of
- A. non-competitive inhibition
- B. competitive inhibition
- C. feedback inhibition
- D. denaturation
Explanation
Malonate is close enough in structure to succinate to occupy the same active site without being converted, which is the definition of competitive inhibition, and it is the textbook example. The inhibition can be reversed by raising the succinate concentration. Feedback inhibition is a regulatory mechanism in which the end product of a pathway inhibits an earlier enzyme, usually allosterically.