P50 (pressure)

For other uses, see P50 (disambiguation).

In biochemistry, P₅₀ indicates the partial pressure of a gas required to achieve 50% enzyme saturation. Values of P₅₀ are negatively correlated with substrate affinity, with lower values of P₅₀ corresponding to high affinity and vice versa. The term is analogous to the Michaelis-Menten constant (K_m), which identifies the concentration of substrate required for an enzyme to achieve 50% of its maximum reaction velocity.

For example, the P₅₀ of myoglobin for O₂ is 130 pascals while the P₅₀ for adult hemoglobin is 3.5 kPa. Thus, when O₂ partial pressure is low, hemoglobin-bound O₂ is more readily transferred to myoglobin. Myoglobin, found in high concentrations in muscle tissue, can then transfer the oxygen to muscle fibers, where it will be used in the generation of energy to fuel muscle contraction.