Allosteric regulation

Patent Granted In biochemistry, allosteric regulation is the regulation of an enzyme or other protein by binding an effector molecule at the protein's allosteric site (that is, a site other than the protein's active site). Allosteric sites allow effectors to bind to the protein, often resulting in a conformational change or other change in the effectiveness of the enzyme. Effectors that enhance the protein's activity are referred to as allosteric activators, whereas those that decrease the protein's activity are called allosteric inhibitors. The term allostery comes from the Greek allos (ἄλλος), "other", and stereos (στερεὀς), "solid (object)", in reference to the fact that the regulatory site of an allosteric protein is physically distinct from its active site. Allosteric regulations are a natural example of control loops, such as feedback from downstream products or feedforward from upstream substrates. Long-range allostery is especially important in cell signaling.