1. The forward and reverse reactions catalysed by ATP-creatine phosphotransferase have been studied kinetically at pH8.0 in the presence and absence of products, under conditions in which the free Mg(2+) concentration was maintained constant at 1mm. Thus at fixed pH the reaction may be considered as being bireactant and expressed as:MgATP(2-)+creatine(0)right harpoon over left harpoonMgADP(-)+phosphocreatine(2-)2. The initial-velocity pattern in the absence of products and the product-inhibition pattern have been determined. These are consistent with a random mechanism in which all steps are in rapid equilibrium except that concerned with the interconversion of the central ternary complexes, and in which two dead-end complexes (enzyme-MgADP-creatine and enzyme-MgATP-phosphocreatine) are formed. The results are in accord with previous suggestions that the enzyme possesses distinct sites for the combination of the nucleotide and guanidino substrates. 3. Values have been determined for the Michaelis and dissociation constants involved in the combination of each substrate with various enzyme forms. Although these values cannot be regarded as absolute, they appear to indicate that the presence of one substrate on the enzyme enhances the combination of the second substrate. In addition, it would seem that in the formation of the enzyme-MgADP-creatine complex the concentration of one reactant does not affect the combination of the other. This contrasts with the formation of the enzyme-MgATP-phosphocreatine complex, where each reactant hinders the combination of the other.
