binding site

noun

plural binding sites

: a location on a molecule or cell surface at which a chemical substance (such as an element or molecule) can bind (see bind entry 1 sense 5b)

A ligand is a molecule or ion whose shape is complementary to the shape of a binding site on a particular protein molecule.

—Gary A. Thibodeau

… the most favorable binding site of atomic antimony is the terminal carbon …

—Zhenjun Song et al.

The main calcium binding site within each monomer involves the main chain oxygen atom …

—Brian A. Fox et al.

Note: A binding site may demonstrate specificity for a particular chemical substance.

Examples of binding site in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

By being able to predict protein binding sites, AlphaFold3 will enhance researchers’ drug development capabilities. —Marc Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 10 June 2024

During this last step of the process, which takes the longest, there are very few available binding sites in the fiberlike structures, which have to slowly move and bend to make the remaining binding sites available. —Trevor Grandpre, Scientific American, 14 Aug. 2024

The small molecule drugs bind to the protein binding site and modulate its activity, thereby influencing the disease path. —Marc Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 10 June 2024

Rather, transcription factors, their DNA binding sites, and other regulatory molecules may assemble into dense gatherings that exert their influence collectively. —Philip Ball, Quanta Magazine, 14 Feb. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1950, in the meaning defined above

Medical Definition

binding site

noun

: a region on a molecule or cell surface at which the combining of chemical substances takes place

Proteins called transcription factors bind to these short DNA strings—transcription factor binding sites—to regulate the production of messenger RNA and thus the synthesis of proteins.

—Leonid Kruglyak and David L. Stern, Science