Development of a biochemical switching device: mathematical model.

There are many examples of enzymes that share substrates or cofactors in a cyclic manner. Techniques have been developed that use cyclic enzyme systems to assay quantitatively small amounts of biochemical substances (cofactor, substrate), however, only a few studies of the control of these systems have been published. The author previously showed with computer simulations that cyclic enzyme systems have the reliability of ON-OFF types of operation (McCulloch-Pitts' neuronic equation) and the applicability for a switching circuit in a biocomputer. The switching time was inevitably determined in accordance with the difference in amount between two inputs of the system. A unique switching mechanism of cyclic enzyme systems (basic switching element) and the effects of excitatory stimuli on switching properties of the integrated biochemical switching system are demonstrated.