Analysis of metabolic control can be done by changing some of the regulatory factors such as substrate or product concentration, phosphorylation, or modifying the enzyme structure by allosteric regulation.

The analysis of metabolic control is done to study the roles of the steps and the molecules in the metabolic pathways. It helps to identify which steps are regulating or limiting steps of the process; this can be done in several ways. The concentration of substrate or product can be altered to see how the reaction/ pathway changes. The enzyme can be modified by allosteric regulation to see the alteration in the reaction/pathway. Phosphorylation of enzymes or substrates can also be done to see the effects of any modification.

Practice Questions

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Key Points

• Analysis of metabolic control can be done to see which steps of the pathway are rate-limiting steps.

• Alteration in the reaction pathways can be seen by modifying the concentration of the substrate or production or by changing the enzyme structure by allosteric regulation.

Key Terms

Allosteric: regulation of an enzyme by a molecule that attaches to the site other than the active site

Phosphorylation: the addition of a phosphate group to a protein