Competitive Inhibition

CORE DEFINITION

In competitive inhibition, an inhibitor molecule is shaped like the substrate and competes with it for the enzyme's single active site. The inhibition is reversible: raising substrate concentration outcompetes the inhibitor and restores the enzyme's rate. The general logic is that similar tasks compete for one channel, and it maps onto attention: trivia and important work look alike and fight for the same slot of attention. The counterintuitive fix is not to eliminate the trivia but to raise the substrate concentration, to load the schedule so heavily with the important work that the small stuff is crowded out. Qualification: the mechanism works because the two contenders are similar; dissimilar demands do not compete at the same site.