scholarly journals Application of electrical analogues for control analysis of simple metabolic pathways

1990 ◽  
Vol 272 (1) ◽  
pp. 65-70 ◽  
Author(s):  
A K Sen

I have used electrical analogues for calculating the Flux Control Coefficients of metabolic pathways. An analogue circuit consists of resistances that are connected in series (or parallel) with a voltage (or current) source. In constructing the analogues, each of the enzymes in the pathway is associated with a resistance whose magnitude depends on the Elasticity Coefficients of the enzymes. These circuits can be designed in a heuristic fashion directly from the configuration of the pathway, without the necessity of writing down the governing equations with the use of Summation and Connectivity Theorems. The Flux Control Coefficients of the enzymes are represented by voltages across (or currents through) the resistances and are determined by an application of Ohm's Law. Results are given for (a) a simple linear pathway without feedback or feedforward regulation, and (b) a linear pathway with feedback inhibition. The analogue circuits are also convenient for assessing the relative importance of the various enzymes in flux control, and for simplifying the structure of a given pathway.

1988 ◽  
Vol 256 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-101 ◽  
Author(s):  
D A Fell ◽  
K Snell

The flux of serine biosynthesis in the liver of the normal rabbit, and of the rat on a low protein diet, is most sensitive to the activity of phosphoserine phosphatase (flux control coefficient up to 0.97), the last of the three enzymes in the pathway after it branches from glycolysis. The concentration of the pathway product, serine, has a strong controlling influence on the flux (response coefficient up to -0.64) through feedback inhibition at this step. The pathway is therefore controlled primarily by the demand for serine rather than the supply of the pathway precursor, 3-phosphoglycerate. Under conditions where there is a lower biosynthetic flux, the flux control coefficients of the first two enzymes of the pathway are increased, and are probably dominant in the rat on a normal diet. In rabbit liver, when ethanol is used to inhibit serine biosynthesis, control can be distributed between the three enzymes, even though the reactions catalysed by the first two remain close to equilibrium. Apart from their intrinsic value in aiding the understanding of the regulation of mammalian serine metabolism, our findings illustrate the danger of assuming that there are invariant design principles in the regulation of metabolic pathways, such as feedback control on the first step after a branch.


The use of elasticity coefficients and flux-control coefficients in a quantitative treatment of control is discussed, with photosynthetic sucrose synthesis as an example. Experimental values for elasticities for the cytosolic fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase and sucrose phosphate synthase are derived from their in vitro properties, and from an analysis of the in vivo relation between fluxes and metabolite levels. An empirical factor α , describing the response of the fructose 2,6-bisphosphate regulator cycle to fructose 6-phosphate is described, and an expression is derived relating α to the elasticities of the enzymes involved in this regulator cycle. The in vivo values for elasticities and α are then used in a modified form of the connectivity theorem to estimate the flux control coefficients of the cytosolic fructose 1,6-bisphosphatase and sucrose phosphate synthase during rapid photosynthetic sucrose synthesis.


1993 ◽  
Vol 71 (7-8) ◽  
pp. 315-323 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendy Y. Precious ◽  
John Barrett

The elasticities for the different steps of carbohydrate catabolism in the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta were estimated from perturbation experiments. These data were then used to calculate flux and metabolite control coefficients. Enzyme elasticities were also calculated from the rate equations and an independent estimate of the flux control coefficients for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase was made by inhibitor titration. The values obtained for the flux control coefficients for carbohydrate breakdown in H. diminuta are consistent with how the pathway is thought to be controlled in vivo. A sensitivity analysis of the flux control coefficients of the important regulatory enzymes in the pathway shows that for hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase there are three or four key elasticities which have a significant effect on the coefficient. For glycogen synthase, the major factor in determining the magnitude of the flux control coefficient is the relative flux through the branch.Key words: Hymenolepis diminuta, metabolic control analysis, control coefficient, enzyme elasticity.


1986 ◽  
Vol 237 (2) ◽  
pp. 379-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
A K Groen ◽  
C W van Roermund ◽  
R C Vervoorn ◽  
J M Tager

We have used control analysis to quantify the distribution of control in the gluconeogenic pathway in liver cells from starved rats. Lactate and pyruvate were used as gluconeogenic substrates. The flux control coefficients of the various enzymes in the gluconeogenic pathway were calculated from the elasticity coefficients of the enzymes towards their substrates and products and the fluxes through the different branches in the pathway. The elasticity coefficients were either calculated from gamma/Keq. ratios (where gamma is the mass-action ratio and Keq. is the equilibrium constant) and enzyme-kinetic data or measured experimentally. It is concluded that the gluconeogenic enzyme pyruvate carboxylase and the glycolytic enzyme pyruvate kinase play a central role in control of gluconeogenesis. If pyruvate kinase is inactive, gluconeogenic flux from lactate is largely controlled by pyruvate carboxylase. The low elasticity coefficient of pyruvate carboxylase towards its product oxaloacetate minimizes control by steps in the gluconeogenic pathway located after pyruvate carboxylase. This situation occurs when maximal gluconeogenic flux is required, i.e. in the presence of glucagon. In the absence of the hormone, when pyruvate kinase is active, control of gluconeogenesis is distributed among many steps, including pyruvate carboxylase, pyruvate kinase, fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase and also steps outside the classic gluconeogenic pathway such as the adenine-nucleotide translocator.


1993 ◽  
Vol 296 (2) ◽  
pp. 423-433 ◽  
Author(s):  
J R Small

This paper is a study into the effects of experimental error on the estimated values of flux control coefficients obtained using specific inhibitors. Two possible techniques for analysing the experimental data are compared: a simple extrapolation method (the so-called graph method) and a non-linear function fitting method. For these techniques, the sources of systematic errors are identified and the effects of systematic and random errors are quantified, using both statistical analysis and numerical computation. It is shown that the graph method is very sensitive to random errors and, under all conditions studied, that the fitting method, even under conditions where the assumptions underlying the fitted function do not hold, outperformed the graph method. Possible ways of designing experiments to minimize the effects of experimental errors are analysed and discussed.


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