Enzyme inhibition

Enzyme inhibition refers to the decrease of enzyme-related processes. The term seems to be used for two different situations:

• In enzyme production (see protein biosynthesis), inhibition refers to the halting or reduction of the production of an enzyme. This is the opposite of enzyme induction, which triggers or increases production.
• In enzyme activity, inhibition refers to the decrease of an enzyme's activity, caused by a substance called an enzyme inhibitor. The opposite of an enzyme inhibitor is called an enzyme activator.
• Suicide inhibition is an irreversible form of enzyme inhibition that occurs when an enzyme binds a substrate analogue and forms an irreversible complex with it through a covalent bond during the "normal" catalysis reaction.

An enzyme inhibitor is a molecule that binds to an enzyme and decreases its activity. Since blocking an enzyme's activity can kill a pathogen or correct a metabolic imbalance, many drugs are enzyme inhibitors. They are also used in pesticides. Not all molecules that bind to enzymes are inhibitors; enzyme activators bind to enzymes and increase their enzymatic activity, while enzyme substrates bind and are converted to products in the normal catalytic cycle of the enzyme.