Analysis of a framework using material balances in metabolic pathways to elucidate cellular metabolism

A framework using material balances in metabolic pathways to study cellular metabolism is examined and the results are discussed. Rate measurements on extracellular compounds alone were found to be not always sufficient to validate proposed unique intracellular mechanisms. The conditions to delineate among candidate mechanisms based solely on extracellular measurements are established. The number of half reactions comprising the reaction network is found to be an important parameter.