QUANTIFICATION OF THE CONTROL OF CARBOHYDRATE CATABOLISM IN THE TAPEWORM HYMENOLEPIS-DIMINUTA

The elasticities for the different steps of carbohydrate catabolism in the tapeworm Hymenolepis diminuta were estimated from perturbation experiments. These data were then used to calculate flux and metabolite control coefficients. Enzyme elasticities were also calculated from the rate equations and an independent estimate of the flux control coefficients for phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase was made by inhibitor titration. The values obtained for the flux control coefficients for carbohydrate breakdown in H. diminuta are consistent with how the pathway is thought to be controlled in vivo. A sensitivity analysis of the flux control coefficients of the important regulatory enzymes in the pathway shows that for hexokinase, phosphofructokinase, pyruvate kinase, and phosphoenolpyruvate carboxykinase there are three or four key elasticities which have a significant effect on the coefficient. For glycogen synthase, the major factor in determining the magnitude of the flux control coefficient is the relative flux through the branch.