Edelstein_2014_J.Mol.Biol_426_39

The MWC (Monod-Wyman-Changeux) allosteric model postulates concerted conformational changes between two states: the intrinsically more stable T state with relatively weak ligand binding and the R state with relatively strong ligand binding. The model distinguishes between Y (the fractional occupation of the binding sites) and R (the fraction of molecules in the R state). Cooperativity (measured by the Hill coefficient) has strikingly different properties for Y and R . For the latter, cooperativity depends only on the relative affinities of the two states, not on their relative intrinsic stabilities, as demonstrated here with a simple new equation relating the Hill coefficient to R .