Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes

Cycling of co-substrates, whereby a metabolite is converted among alternate forms via different reactions, is ubiquitous in metabolism. Several cycled co-substrates are well known as energy and electron carriers (e.g. ATP and NAD(P)H), but there are also other metabolites that act as cycled co-subst...

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Main Authors: Robert West, Hadrien Delattre, Elad Noor, Elisenda Feliu, Orkun S Soyer
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: eLife Sciences Publications Ltd 2023-02-01
Series:eLife
Subjects:
Online Access:https://elifesciences.org/articles/84379
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author Robert West
Hadrien Delattre
Elad Noor
Elisenda Feliu
Orkun S Soyer
author_facet Robert West
Hadrien Delattre
Elad Noor
Elisenda Feliu
Orkun S Soyer
author_sort Robert West
collection DOAJ
description Cycling of co-substrates, whereby a metabolite is converted among alternate forms via different reactions, is ubiquitous in metabolism. Several cycled co-substrates are well known as energy and electron carriers (e.g. ATP and NAD(P)H), but there are also other metabolites that act as cycled co-substrates in different parts of central metabolism. Here, we develop a mathematical framework to analyse the effect of co-substrate cycling on metabolic flux. In the cases of a single reaction and linear pathways, we find that co-substrate cycling imposes an additional flux limit on a reaction, distinct to the limit imposed by the kinetics of the primary enzyme catalysing that reaction. Using analytical methods, we show that this additional limit is a function of the total pool size and turnover rate of the cycled co-substrate. Expanding from this insight and using simulations, we show that regulation of these two parameters can allow regulation of flux dynamics in branched and coupled pathways. To support these theoretical insights, we analysed existing flux measurements and enzyme levels from the central carbon metabolism and identified several reactions that could be limited by the dynamics of co-substrate cycling. We discuss how the limitations imposed by co-substrate cycling provide experimentally testable hypotheses on specific metabolic phenotypes. We conclude that measuring and controlling co-substrate dynamics is crucial for understanding and engineering metabolic fluxes in cells.
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spelling doaj.art-8bd63d87193a45329ae6e414df0033f22023-03-20T16:25:21ZengeLife Sciences Publications LtdeLife2050-084X2023-02-011210.7554/eLife.84379Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxesRobert West0https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9348-0258Hadrien Delattre1https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5488-8370Elad Noor2https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8776-4799Elisenda Feliu3https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7205-6511Orkun S Soyer4https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9504-3796School of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Warwick, United KingdomSchool of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Warwick, United KingdomDepartment of Plant and Environmental Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, IsraelDepartment of Mathematics, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, DenmarkSchool of Life Sciences, University of Warwick, Warwick, United KingdomCycling of co-substrates, whereby a metabolite is converted among alternate forms via different reactions, is ubiquitous in metabolism. Several cycled co-substrates are well known as energy and electron carriers (e.g. ATP and NAD(P)H), but there are also other metabolites that act as cycled co-substrates in different parts of central metabolism. Here, we develop a mathematical framework to analyse the effect of co-substrate cycling on metabolic flux. In the cases of a single reaction and linear pathways, we find that co-substrate cycling imposes an additional flux limit on a reaction, distinct to the limit imposed by the kinetics of the primary enzyme catalysing that reaction. Using analytical methods, we show that this additional limit is a function of the total pool size and turnover rate of the cycled co-substrate. Expanding from this insight and using simulations, we show that regulation of these two parameters can allow regulation of flux dynamics in branched and coupled pathways. To support these theoretical insights, we analysed existing flux measurements and enzyme levels from the central carbon metabolism and identified several reactions that could be limited by the dynamics of co-substrate cycling. We discuss how the limitations imposed by co-substrate cycling provide experimentally testable hypotheses on specific metabolic phenotypes. We conclude that measuring and controlling co-substrate dynamics is crucial for understanding and engineering metabolic fluxes in cells.https://elifesciences.org/articles/84379S. cerevisiaehumanA. thaliana
spellingShingle Robert West
Hadrien Delattre
Elad Noor
Elisenda Feliu
Orkun S Soyer
Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
eLife
S. cerevisiae
human
A. thaliana
title Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
title_full Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
title_fullStr Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
title_full_unstemmed Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
title_short Dynamics of co-substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
title_sort dynamics of co substrate pools can constrain and regulate metabolic fluxes
topic S. cerevisiae
human
A. thaliana
url https://elifesciences.org/articles/84379
work_keys_str_mv AT robertwest dynamicsofcosubstratepoolscanconstrainandregulatemetabolicfluxes
AT hadriendelattre dynamicsofcosubstratepoolscanconstrainandregulatemetabolicfluxes
AT eladnoor dynamicsofcosubstratepoolscanconstrainandregulatemetabolicfluxes
AT elisendafeliu dynamicsofcosubstratepoolscanconstrainandregulatemetabolicfluxes
AT orkunssoyer dynamicsofcosubstratepoolscanconstrainandregulatemetabolicfluxes