Metabolic Pathway Characterization from Transient Response Data Obtained In Situ: Parameter Estimation in S-system Models

The actual values of internal metabolites and fluxes can be measured by a number of experimental techniques and they provide important information for evaluating the properties of a metabolic pathway in situ. In this paper we propose a strategy to properly exploit this information. The suggested approach permits estimation of a set of parameters on the whole system so that a useful model can be constructed and used to describe its components and systemic properties and to predict its behavior under new conditions. A simulated reference pathway is provided to validate this method and to show its utility in metabolic studies.