FEEDBACK INHIBITION

in enzymology, suppression of the activity of an enzyme, participating in a sequence of reactions by which a substance is synthesized, by a product of that sequence. When the product accumulates in a cell beyond an optimal amount, its production is decreased by inhibition of an enzyme involved in its synthesis. After the product has been utilized or broken down and its concentration thus decreased, the inhibition is relaxed, and the formation of the product resumes. Such enzymes, whose ability to catalyze a reaction depends upon molecules other than their substrates (the ones upon which they act to form a product), are said to be under allosteric control. Feedback inhibition is a mechanism by which the concentration of certain cell constituents is limited.