Related Experiment Video
Updated: Oct 15, 2026

Visualization and Analysis of mRNA Molecules Using Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization in Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Published on: June 14, 2013
Enzymes as molecular automata: a stochastic model of self-oscillatory glycolytic cycles in cellular metabolism
A García-Olivares1, M Villarroel, P C Marijuán
1LITEC - CSIC, C/ Maria de Luna, 3, 50015, Zaragoza, Spain. olivares@ideafix.litec.csic.ed
Abstract:
A stochastic model based on the molecular automata approach was developed to simulate the cyclic dynamics of glycolysis-gluconeogenesis in cell energy metabolism. The stochastic algorithm, based on Gillespie's method, simulates the master equation associated with any network of enzymatically controlled reactions. This model of the glycolytic-gluconeogenetic cycle was developed by assembling the stochastic kinetic reactions controlled by two enzymes: phosphofructokinase (PFKase) and fructose-1, 6-biphosphatase (FBPase). In order to obtain the hysteresis behaviour predicted by classical Sel'kov analysis, a minimum complexity is required in the allosteric regulations. This implies that the FBPase cannot have a single binding site for its transition to the inactive state (a minimum of two or three binding sites is necessary). Given the multimeric structure of this enzyme, this kinetic hypothesis is tenable. Other possible applications of the stochastic automata approach for different cases of channels, receptors and enzymatic control are suggested.
Related Concept Videos
Coupled Reactions
Energy in adenosine triphosphate or ATP molecules is easily accessible to do work. ATP powers the majority of energy-requiring cellular reactions. Cells...
What is Glycolysis?
Cells make energy by breaking down macromolecules. Cellular respiration is the biochemical process that converts "food energy" (from the chemical bonds of macromolecules) into chemical energy in the form of adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The first step of this tightly regulated and intricate process is glycolysis. The word glycolysis originates from the Latin glyco (sugar) and lysis (breakdown). Glycolysis serves two main intracellular functions: generating ATP and generating...
Non-equilibrium in the Cell
Other Glycolytic Pathways
Introduction to Enzyme Kinetics
The experimenter can then plot the initial reaction rate or velocity (Vo) of a given trial against the substrate concentration ([S]) to obtain a graph of the reaction properties. For many enzymatic reactions involving a...
Introduction to Metabolism
