Metabolic group control coefficient

Components are commonly represented as nodes in the metabolic network. These nodes can act as branch points if the number of input and output fluxes is not equivalent. Non-essential reactions around a node can be collected into reaction groups the coefficients of their fluxes, in general termed the metabolic flux coefficients (in analogy to rate coefficients), can be rearranged as group control coefficients. 

This traditional approach of MCA can be considered to be bottom up since all of the individual enzyme flux control coefficients are determined in order to describe the control structure of a large network. A top down approach has also been described, which makes extensive use of lumping of reactions together to determine group flux control coefficients [19]. These can give some information about the overall control of a metabolic network, without its complete characterization. 

Experimental data were used in a model, which divided the body into four tissue compartments vessel rich group, muscle group, fat group and liver. Metabolism was assumed to take place in die Ever as a combination of a linear metabolic component and a Mi-chaelis-Menten component. Metabolic parameters and partition coefficients determined for rats were scaled for body weight and were used in fitting results for humans. The model fit very well the data reported from other controlled human exposure studies. - - ... 

---