Metabolic Control Analysis: Rereading Reder

TL;DR

This paper revisits the mathematical foundations of metabolic control analysis, demonstrating that a modified version of Reder's algorithm can be universally applied to biochemical models, enhancing its robustness.

Contribution

It provides a slight modification to Reder's algorithm, making it valid for all biochemical models, unlike the original which was limited.

Findings

Modified algorithm applies to all models

Enhances the robustness of control matrix calculations

Supports existing software implementations

Abstract

Metabolic control analysis is a biochemical formalism defined by Kacser and Burns in 1973, and given firm mathematical basis by Reder in 1988. The algorithm defined by Reder for calculating the control matrices is still used by software programs today, but is only valid for some biochemical models. We show that, with slight modification, the algorithm may be applied to all models.