COMPUTER-PROGRAM FOR THE EQUATIONS DESCRIBING THE STEADY-STATE OF ENZYME-REACTIONS

Motivation: The derivation of steady-state equations is frequently car ried out in enzyme kinetic studies. Done manually, this becomes tediou s and prone to human error. The computer programs now available which are able to accept reaction mechanisms of some complexity are focused only on the strict steady-state approach. Results: Here we present a c omputer program called REFERASS, with a short computation time and a u ser-friendly format for the input and output files, able to derive the strict steady-state equations and/or those corresponding to the usual assumption that one ore more of the reversible steps ale in rapid equ ilibrium. This program handles enzyme-catalysed reactions with mechani sms involving up to 255 enzyme species connected by up to 255 reaction steps, subject to limits imposed by the memory and disk space availab le.