A method for estimation of enzyme kinetics in metabolic pathways using GMA

In attempting to develop large-scaled metabolic models using general dynamic modeling methods, a large set of data, such as kinetics mechanisms and parameters, is required. It is difficult to obtain a complete set of rate equations and kinetic parameters. To solve the problem, we have proposed an algorithm which simulates a pathway model including dynamic kinetic parts and flux-based static parts together. The flux-based static part requires only stoichiometric coefficients and exchange flux rates at the system boundary to develop a model, and neither rate equations nor kinetic parameters are necessary in the static part. However, dynamic properties of bottle neck reactions are still needed for the dynamic part. To obtain their kinetic information without biochemical experiments, we developed a novel method for the estimation of parameters whose kinetics were unknown using GMA(general mass action) from time-course data of metabolites.