In
biochemical reactions, this refers to a situation in which an
enzyme is prevented from binding to its intended
substrate as a result of the presence of another
molecule which can change the shape of the
enzyme, along with its
active site, so that the
enzyme can't
bind to its intended
target. The other
molecule does this by binding to a part of the enzyme other than the
active site. As a result, this type of
enzyme inhibition cannot be reversed by increasing the amount of
substrate in the reaction, as is the case with
competitive inhibition.
From the BioTech Dictionary at http://biotech.icmb.utexas.edu/. For further information see the BioTech homenode.