Biochemical Systems Theory Applied To The Human Red-blood Cell

Abstract

The results reported in this paper show that the current model of the red cell exhibits a self-consistent and stable steady state. However, the model is not very robust; the high parameter sensitivities associated with the synthesis of NADP and glutathione suggest that this portion of the model is illconditioned. Signals propagated from independent to dependent variables are attenuated in some cases and amplified in others. These influences exhibit large values, both negative as well as positive. The average influence on any given flux can be as high as 2/3, which is 27-fold greater than the value of 1/41 predicted on the basis of summation relationships [Kacser and Burns, 19811 and supports criticisms of this approach based on theoretical grounds [Savageau and Sorribas, 19891. The accuracy with which the theory predicts responses to a 10% variation of the independent variables is within 0.5% on the average.