n. pl. locÂ·ules or locÂ·uÂ·li (-lÄ«â²). A small cavity or compartment within an organ or part of an animal or plant, as any of the cavities within a plant ovary. [Latin.
Competitive inhibition is a form of enzyme inhibition where binding of the inhibitor to the active site on the enzyme prevents binding of the substrate and vice versa. Most competitive inhibitors function by binding reversibly to the active site of the enzyme.
In competitive inhibition, at any given moment, the enzyme may be bound to the inhibitor, the substrate, or neither, but it cannot bind both at the same time. In virtually every case, competitive inhibitors bind in the same binding site as the substrate, but same-site binding is not a requirement.