Open AccessOn the mechanistic origin of damped oscillations in biochemical reaction systems
Author(s) -
RYDEPETTERSSON Ulf
Publication year - 1990
Publication title -
european journal of biochemistry
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 1432-1033
pISSN - 0014-2956
DOI - 10.1111/j.1432-1033.1990.tb15636.x
Subject(s) - kinetic energy , transient (computer programming) , biological system , substrate (aquarium) , kinetic scheme , steady state (chemistry) , control theory (sociology) , chemistry , mechanism (biology) , kinetics , product (mathematics) , physics , chemical physics , statistical physics , computer science , classical mechanics , mathematics , biology , quantum mechanics , control (management) , ecology , geometry , artificial intelligence , operating system
A generalized reaction scheme for the kinetic interaction of two reactants in a metabolic pathway has been examined in order to establish what minimal mechanistic patterns are required to support a damped oscillatory transient‐state kinetic behaviour of such a two‐component system when operating near a steady state. All potentially oscillating sub‐systems inherent in this scheme are listed and briefly characterized. The list includes several mechanistic patterns that may be frequently encountered in biological system (e.g. involving feedback inhibition, feed‐forward activation, substrate inhibition or product activation), but also draw attention to some hitherto unforeseen mechanisms by which the kinetic interaction of two metabolites may trigger damped oscillations. The results can be used to identify possible sources of oscillations in metabolic pathways without detailed knowledge about the explicit rate equations that apply.