Enzyme kinetics and metabolic control. A method to test and quantify the effect of enzymic properties on metabolic variables.

It is usual to study the sensitivity of metabolic variables to small (infinitesimal) changes in the magnitudes of individual parameters such as an enzyme concentration. Here, the effect that a simultaneous change in all the enzyme concentrations by the same factor alpha (Co-ordinate-Control Operation, CCO) has on the variables of time-dependent metabolic systems is investigated. This factor alpha can have any arbitrary large value. First, we assume, for each enzyme measured in isolation, the validity of the steady-state approximation and the proportionality between reaction rate and enzyme concentration. Under these assumptions, any time-invariant variable may behave like a metabolite concentration, i.e. S alpha = Sr (S-type), or like a flux, i.e. J alpha = alpha Jr (J-type). The subscripts r and alpha correspond to the values of the variable before and after the CCO respectively. Similarly, time-dependent variables may behave according to S alpha (t/alpha) = Sr (t) (S-type) or to J alpha (t/alpha) = alpha J r (t) (J-type). A method is given to test these relationships in experimental systems, and to quantify deviations from the predicted behaviour. A positive test for deviations proves the violation of some of the assumptions made. However, the breakdown of the assumptions in an enzyme-catalysed reaction, studied in isolation, may or may not affect significantly the behaviour of the system when the component reaction is embedded in the metabolic network.