Abstract: The binding of ligands to proteins often occurs at rates that approach the diffusion-controlled limit1. For spherical molecules with negligible interactions apart from isotropic reactivity on contact, the diffusion-controlled rate constant is KD≡ 4πRD, where R is the distance between molecular centres at contact and D is the relative translational diffusion constant1–3. Deviations from this limiting rate due to interaction potentials4,5, hydrodynamic interactions6,7 and static geometric features of the binding sites8–13 have previously r...
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Topics: 
Biophysics
Chemical physics