Kinetics of protein subunit interactions: Simulation of a polymerization overshoot

Theoretical calculations of the kinetics of a polymerization reaction have been carried out for a scheme in which there is a nucleation step that is slow relative to subsequent propagation steps. A transient maximum (overshoot) in molecular weight can be expected in such reversibly self‐associating systems when polymerization is initiated suddenly. The extent of overshoot decreases with increasing initial concentration of true equilibrium is strongly dependent on the rate of nucleus formation and the rate of depolymerization when the absolute values of both are small relative to the rate of propagation.