BINDING SITE

In biochemistry, a 'binding site' is a region on a protein, DNA, or RNA to which specific other molecules and ions — in this context collectively called ligands, or more specifically, protein ligands — form a chemical bond.
The term ''saturation'' refers to the fraction of total binding sites that are occupied at any given time.
When more than one type of ligand can bind to a binding site, competition ensues.
An equilibrium exists between unbound ligands and bound ligands.
Binding sites also exhibit chemical specificity, a measure of the types of ligands that will bond, and affinity, which is a measure of the strength of the chemical bond.
A more specific type of binding site is the transcription factor binding site, present on DNA.

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See also

See also

★ NTP binding site
Drawing the active site of an enzyme