Biochemical systems theory applied to the human red-blood cell

Mathematical models of red cell metabolism have been developed within the framework of the Michaelis-Menten formalism, and the most comprehensive of these is currently being implemented as a computer simulation tool. A straightforward transformation to the synergistic-system representation within a very general theory of biochemical systems (called Biochemical Systems Theory or BST). Preliminary analysis aimed at characterizing the consistency, robustness, log gains, and accuracy of this model of the human red-blood cell is presented. The results 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 ill-conditioned. 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 accuracy with which the theory predicts responses to a 10%-variation of the independent variables is within 0.5% on the average.