Vol. 23, No. 11(November 2018)

When drawing a saturation binding curve of two proteins, there is a way of plotting the concentration of the free form of one of the pair on X axis, and the ratio of the other that is forming complex on Y axis. In this case, the slope of the curve is small if their affinity is low (i.e. large dissociation constant (K_d)); however, the slope is large if the affinity is high (i.e. small K_d). In this drawing, two flocks of wild geese are flying along two line-shaped clouds that are likened to saturation binding curves. The geese along the lower, gentle-slope cloud are flying apart as if their affinity is low. On the other hand, the ones flying along the steep-slope cloud in front of the moon are gathering together as if their affinity is high. For drawing this image, we referred to the research paper by Sadaie et al. (2014) Mol. Cell. Biol., 34:3272-3290, DOI: 10.1128/MCB.00087-14 that reports in vivo K_d values.

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