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J. Biol. Chem., Vol. 282, Issue 34, 24525-24537, August 24, 2007
Computer Modeling of Mitochondrial Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle, Oxidative Phosphorylation, Metabolite Transport, and Electrophysiology*
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| ABSTRACT |
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| INTRODUCTION |
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In addition, the developed model provides the basis for examining how mitochondrial energetics is controlled in vivo. The model is used to predict the roles of NAD and ADP on regulating tricarboxylic acid cycle dehydrogenase fluxes, demonstrating that NAD is the more important regulator. The mitochondrial redox state in turn is affected by cytoplasmic Pi concentration, since inorganic phosphate is a co-factor for transport of tricarboxylic acid cycle substrates a substrate for the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Since ADP and Pi are the biochemical substrates for oxidative phosphorylation, the primary mechanism of control of mitochondrial energy metabolism (tricarboxylic acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation) in striated muscle is feedback of the products of ATP hydrolysis.
In a series of works, Kohn et al. (1–3) presented a detailed model of tricarboxylic acid cycle kinetics. However, the available information regarding the Kohn et al. model is incomplete, ambiguous, and sometimes self-contradictory. In addition, Kohn et al. lacked the computational resources for relatively identifying such a large scale model. Nevertheless, the work of Kohn et al. provides a useful repository of kinetic mechanisms for tricarboxylic acid cycle reactions.
Intact functional mitochondrial isolated from tissue provides a powerful tool for developing a mechanistic model of mitochondrial function. Suspensions of isolated mitochondria are readily subjected to state perturbations by introducing different substrates; mitochondrial state variables (membrane potential, redox state of cofactors, respiration rate, and intermediate concentrations) are available to measurement by a variety of methods. Therefore, a tremendous amount of valuable data shedding light on mitochondrial function is available. The challenge in making use of the available data is in building and validating a single model that is comprehensive enough to simulate a number of different experimental protocols and measurements.
This challenge is met here by building a detailed model for all of the processes illustrated in Fig. 1. This model accounts for detailed biochemical thermodynamics using a simulation approach for biochemical kinetics adapted from Vinnakota et al. (4). The electrophysiology of the mitochondrial inner membrane is based on previous models of Beard (5) and Wu et al. (6), accounting for ionic species that are transported across the membrane (such as H+, ATP4–,
) as variables. Although carefully estimated values for a great number of model parameters, including basic thermodynamic data of metal ion-biochemical species dissociation constants, are available from existing data bases, a large number of kinetic constants in the model have to be estimated from comparing model simulations with experimental data. In fact, the current work is unprecedented in terms of the complexity of the model and large amount of data used to build it. A total of 31 parameters values are estimated based on comparison with 25 data curves measured in isolated cardiac mitochondria from two different laboratories.
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| MATERIALS AND METHODS |
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Below, subscripts x, i, and c on variable names denote matrix, intermembrane, and cytoplasmic (extramitochondrial) spaces, respectively. For example [ATP]x denotes matrix ATP concentration, whereas [ATP]c denotes ATP concentration in the cytoplasm or buffer space for an isolated mitochondria experiment.
Model Components—The basic mitochondrial model, applied initially to simulate the behavior of isolated mitochondria, includes reactions occurring in three compartments: mitochondrial matrix, mitochondrial intermembrane space, and buffer space. The model incorporates tricarboxylic acid cycle fluxes, mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation fluxes, substrate and cation transport fluxes, passive permeation fluxes, and buffer reaction fluxes. Reaction fluxes are modeled based on detailed kinetic mechanisms provided in the work of Kohn et al. (1–3, 7–11) and other sources and the oxidative phosphorylation model published previously (5). In total, 42 flux expressions are included in the model, including 11 tricarboxylic acid cycle fluxes, four oxidative phosphorylation fluxes, 12 substrate and cation transport fluxes across the inner mitochondrial membrane, one mitochondrial intermembrane space reaction, 11 substrate passive permeation fluxes across the outer mitochondrial membrane, and four external space reaction fluxes. All reference reactions of these fluxes, except the passive permeation fluxes, are listed in Table 1. When a reaction involves species in multiple compartments, the identifiers x, i, and c in parentheses are used to denote matrix, intermembrane, and external (buffer or cytoplasm) compartments for the species.
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Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle and Related Reactions—The matrix biochemical reactions considered include the tricarboxylic acid cycle reactions plus pyruvate dehydrogenase (Fig. 1, reaction 1), nucleoside diphosphokinase (reaction 10), and glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase (reaction 11). The reference chemical reactions for these biochemical reactions are tabulated in Table 1. Inhibitors and activators for the enzyme catalyzing these reactions that are considered in the model are listed in Table 2. The mechanism and corresponding mathematical expressions for each enzyme are provided in the supplemental materials, along with the kinetic parameter values used.
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Enzyme regulation by metabolic intermediates is incorporated into the modeled enzyme mechanisms. Major sites of regulation in the tricarboxylic acid cycle are citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, and
-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase reactions that tend to be maintained far from equilibrium (12, 13). These three enzymes are strongly inhibited by product accumulation. For example, citrate acts as a competitive inhibitor against oxaloacetate, and CoA-SH acts as an uncompetitive inhibitor against acetyl-CoA for citrate synthase. Both the isocitrate dehydrogenase and
-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase are regulated by ATP and ADP, which act as an inhibitor and an activator, respectively, at regulatory sites on these enzymes. Isocitrate dehydrogenase is an allosteric enzyme and inhibited by NADH competing against NAD;
-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase is inhibited by succinyl-CoA and NADH.
Oxidative Phosphorylation—The oxidative phosphorylation model of Beard and co-workers (6, 14, 15), including complex I, complex III, complex IV, and FoF1-ATPase, is extended to include succinate dehydrogenase. In previous applications using this model, the tricarboxylic acid cycle is not explicitly simulated. Instead, a phenomenological driving function is used to generate NADH and drive the electron transport system. Here, in replacing the phenomenological driving function with the biochemical model of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the oxidative phosphorylation model parameter values are adjusted to ensure that the integrated model simultaneously matches the original data set used to identify the oxidative phosphorylation component and the kinetic data used to identify the tricarboxylic acid cycle model.
Substrate and Cation Transport Fluxes—Since the mitochondrial inner membrane is permeable to few metabolites or ions, almost all substrate and ion transport is catalyzed by specific transporters. An exception is the proton leak, which is driven by electrical potential across the inner mitochondrial membrane and is modeled here as coupled diffusion and drift using the Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation (16, 17). In contrast to the inner membrane, the outer member is permeable to almost all small molecules and ions (13, 18). All fluxes across the outer membrane are modeled as passive permeation driven by concentration gradients.
The 10 substrate transporters included in the model are the pyruvate-hydrogen (PYR–/H+) co-transporter, the glutamate-hydrogen ion (GLU–/H+) co-transporter, the citrate/malate (HCIT2–/MAL2–),
-ketoglutarate/malate (AKG2–/MAL2–), succinate/malate (SUC2–/MAL2–), malate/phosphate (MAL2–/P2–i), and aspartate/glutamate (ASP–/HGLU0) exchangers, adenine nucleotide translocase (ANT),2 the phosphate-hydrogen (H2PO–4/H+) co-transporter, and the potassium/hydrogen (K+/H+) exchanger. The ASP–/HGLU0 and ANT exchangers involve translocations of charge and are therefore electrogenic (19). All other modeled substrate transporters catalyze electroneutral exchange. The AKG2–/MAL2– transport flux is modeled to be competitively inhibited by the tricarboxylic acid intermediates citrate, succinate, glutamate, and aspartate (20). As electrogenic transporters, the ASP–/HGLU0 and ANT antiporters are modeled to be driven by both membrane electrical potential and concentration gradients (19, 21, 22). Other transporters are modeled using simple mass action kinetics. Both the AKG2–/MAL2– and ASP–/HGLU0 antiporters are components of the malate-aspartate shuttle indirectly transporting cytosolic NADH into the mitochondrial matrix (12, 13).
External Space Fluxes—Analysis of available data requires simulation of a variety of conditions and experimental protocols. These protocols require simulation of biochemical reactions in the external space. For the experiments of LaNoue et al. (23) (described under "Results"), hexokinase and glucose are added in the buffer medium to consume ATP and maintain mitochondrial ATP synthesis. Thus for these experiments, the hexokinase reaction is simulated. For simulations of in vivo mitochondrial energetics, creatine kinase, adenylate kinase, and ATP hydrolysis in the cytoplasm are simulated as described under "Validation."
Simulation Method—The system is simulated using an approach that formally treats biochemical reactants as sums of distinct species formed by different hydrogen and metal ion binding states (4, 24). The method accounts for pH and ionic dependence on enzyme kinetics and apparent equilibrium and thermodynamic driving forces for biochemical reactions. Analytical expressions for enzyme and transporter fluxes are derived based on their detailed kinetic mechanisms. Enzyme kinetics parameters, such as Michaelis-Menten constants, inhibition constants, and activation constants, are mined from a variety of sources. The detailed model equations are developed in the supplemental materials.
Parameterization Approach—All enzyme and transporter activities are treated as adjustable parameters, with values estimated based on comparison with experimental data. In total, 35 parameter values are estimated. This large number of parameters requires a large amount of relevant data for effective identification. Here, we make use of independent data sets published by LaNoue et al. (23) and Bose et al. (25). The LaNoue et al. (23) data were measured from isolated rat heart mitochondria in both resting state (state 2) and the active state (state 3), with pyruvate and malate or only pyruvate as substrates. The Bose et al. (25) data were measured from isolated pig heart mitochondria in state 2 and state 3, with glutamate and malate as substrates. The different substrates and protocols used in these experiments ensure that the model is challenged by a wide range of data corresponding to diverse conditions. The total experimental data used for model identification provide 25 data curves, including 15 time courses (measure of a variable as a function of time) and 10 steady-state data sets (measure of one steady-state variable as a function of another). Based on these 25 data curves, a reasonable identification of the model is possible. Parameter values are estimated based on a Monte Carlo algorithm used to minimize the difference between model simulations and experimental data.
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| RESULTS |
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Fig. 2, A–E, illustrates the state-2 time courses of pyruvate, citrate,
-ketoglutarate, succinate, fumarate, and malate, following the addition of 2 mM pyruvate and 5 mM malate to a suspension containing 3.4 mg of mitochondrial protein/ml of buffer. In addition, the buffer initially contains 20 mM inorganic phosphate, 5 mM magnesium ion, and 150 mM potassium ion at pH 7.2. Model simulations of the experiments are illustrated as solid lines in Fig. 2. For most reactants, the total concentration (in buffer plus mitochondria) in the suspension is provided. For citrate, time courses of both total and extramitochondrial concentrations are provided. In this experiment, pyruvate is consumed at a steady rate, and its overall concentration decreases linearly. As substrates are consumed, other intermediates build up in the system.
The state-3 experiment of LaNoue et al. (23) is identical to the state-2 experiment with the exception that 0.5 mM ADP and 40 units of hexokinase are added along with substrates pyruvate and malate at time t = 0. In addition, based on the total consumed pyruvate reported by LaNoue et al. (23), we use an initial concentration of 2.5 mM in the computer simulations. Experimental measures and model simulations of the resulting time course data are illustrated in Fig. 3, A–E. In this case, pyruvate is consumed much more rapidly than in the state-2 case. The simulation predicts that the pyruvate is consumed almost linearly during the first 2 min, but the consumption rate is slowed at the end of the experiment due to limitation of available inorganic phosphate in the matrix. In addition, malate is significantly consumed in the simulation, in contrast to the experimental observation that it is not. Other simulated variables compare favorably with the data.
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Experiments 5 and 6: Bose et al. (25) State-2 and State-3 Experiments—Bose et al. (25) measured NADH, 
, O2 consumption rate (MVO2), cytochrome c reduced fraction, and the matrix pH in pig cardiac mitochondria as a function of buffer inorganic phosphate concentration in state-2 and state-3 respiration (25). In these experiments, the buffer conditions are [K+]c = 150 mM, [Mg2+]c = 5 mM, and pHc = 7.1; the incubation temperature is constant at 37 °C; glutamate and malate are added as substrates, each at a concentration of 5 mM. Since glutamate and malate are used as substrates, only one portion of the tricarboxylic acid cycle is active, with flux maintained through glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase, succinyl-CoA synthetase,
-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase, succinate dehydrogenase, fumarase, and malate dehydrogenase.
To simulate the Bose et al. (25) state-2 experiments, the following protocol is followed. Starting with oxidized state mitochondria, glutamate and malate are added at time t = 0. At time t = 60 s, inorganic phosphate is added. The simulations are terminated at t = 90 s, and the model predictions of membrane potential (
), mitochondrial NADH, cytochrome c redox state, matrix pH, and respiration rate are sampled for comparison with experimental data. The corresponding experimental data for state 2 are plotted as open circles in Fig. 4, with model-simulated variables plotted as solid lines. Since phosphate is required to transport malate into the matrix and is a substrate for succinyl-CoA synthetase, mitochondrial NADH and 
increase with [Pi]c. In fact, at [Pi]c = 0, the computer model predicts that [NADH]x and 
= 0, because no tricarboxylic acid cycle reaction flux is possible without phosphate. It is likely that some finite contamination of phosphate is present in the experiments of Bose et al. (25), even in base-line conditions with no phosphate added (25).
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The data set illustrated in Fig. 4 was used to develop and parameterize our oxidative phosphorylation model, using a phenomenological driving function to generate NADH. When the phenomenological function is replaced by a detailed model of the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the model predictions are qualitatively similar to the original formulation of the model (5), with slightly improved predictions for the membrane potential data.
Parameter Estimation and Sensitivity—Values for the 31 adjustable parameters, listed in Table 3, are estimated by finding values for which model simulations are optimally matched to the experimental data of Figs. 2, 3, 4. The single set of parameter values listed in Table 3 is used to perform all of the simulations illustrated in these figures.
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Of the 31 adjustable parameters, six are found to have sensitivities to the data of less than 1%. As indicated in the table, these low sensitivity parameters correspond to activities of enzymes and transporters that are determined to operate near equilibrium. These activities are estimated to be high enough to maintain the reactions near equilibrium, and small changes in parameter value are not expected to have a significant impact on model predictions.
Validation
To validate the model behavior, we compare its predictions with data that were not used to parameterize it. Here, we examine additional data from LaNoue et al. (23) on
-ketoglutarate as a function of malate concentration in the buffer and aspartate transport in state 2 and 3 (26). We also examine model predictions of in vivo ADP and Pi concentrations in human skeletal muscle.
Relationship between Maximal [AKG]c and Initial [MAL]c in State 3—As is apparent from Fig. 3C,
-ketoglutarate concentration tends to level off to an approximate constant level between 300 and 500 s in the state-3 experiment of LaNoue et al. (23). LaNoue et al. (23) reported the
-ketoglutarate concentration obtained with different concentrations of malate in the buffer. In Fig. 5, we compare the measured data (circles) with the model predictions (solid curve). With the exception that the initial malate concentration is varied, the simulation protocol is the same as that of Experiment 2. Model predictions are shown for the maximal
-ketoglutarate obtained during the simulation (t = 500 s). The accumulation of
-ketoglutarate in the buffer is proportional to initial buffer malate concentrations and matches the experimental data points fairly well.
In these experiments, malate in buffer enters the matrix via AKG2–/MAL2–, SUC2–/MAL2–, and MAL2–/P2–i exchangers, resulting in an increase of the matrix malate concentration. Increases in malate in the matrix accelerate tricarboxylic acid cycle turnover and
-ketoglutarate production rate. The simulated time courses (details not shown) show that during the initial period after malate is added into buffer, isocitrate dehydrogenase flux increases more quickly than
-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase flux does, resulting in an initial increase in matrix
-ketoglutarate. Due to the high activity of the AKG2–/MAL2– exchanger, most of the produced
-ketoglutarate is transported into the buffer space, contributing to the overall
-ketoglutarate accumulation.
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Fig. 6A illustrates model simulations and measures of aspartate concentrations versus time for this experiment. The buffer aspartate data points are plotted as solid triangles, with model predictions plotted as a solid line. The matrix aspartate data points are plotted as open circles, with model simulations plotted as a dashed line. Fig. 6B shows the model-predicted membrane potential during this experiment. The predicted final matrix aspartate concentration is 0.24 nmol/mg protein, whereas the corresponding measured value is
0.37 nmol/mg protein. However, over the course of the experiment, the experimentally measured matrix aspartate is significantly higher than the model prediction, perhaps in part due to binding of aspartate to matrix proteins not accounted for in the model.
The simulations predict that the aspartate efflux rate is higher in state 3 than in state 2. When ADP and hexokinase are added into the buffer, state 3 is activated with membrane potential lowered from
200 to
180 mV. The decrease in membrane potential results in decreased aspartate transport out of the inner membrane. Meanwhile, the glutamate oxaloacetate transaminase reaction (proceeding in the reverse direction) is accelerated due to decreased levels of reducing equivalents in the matrix, resulting in higher production rate of the matrix aspartate. Consequently, the matrix aspartate concentration is elevated, leading to higher aspartate efflux rate compared with state 2, even with a somewhat lower membrane potential.
In Vivo Concentrations of Phosphate Metabolites in Skeletal Muscle—We have demonstrated that our model of oxidative phosphorylation, integrated into a model of cellular energetics, mimics the observed relationship between work rate (rate of oxygen consumption or rate of ATP hydrolysis) and ADP, Pi, and phosphocreatine measured using 31P NMR in cardiac (29) and skeletal muscle (6, 29) in vivo. Here we show that the current model remains capable of explaining the observed data as well as or better than the simpler model. To simulate oxidative metabolism in vivo, the cytoplasmic ATP hydrolysis, creatine kinase, and adenylate kinase reactions are included in the model as described previously (6). To supply the tricarboxylic acid cycle, the cytoplasmic pyruvate concentration is held fixed at 0.06 mM.
Model predictions of the relationship between phosphate metabolites and ATP hydrolysis rate are plotted as curve 1 in Fig. 7, along with in vivo 31P NMR spectroscopy data collected from exercising human flexor forearm muscle in healthy subjects (30). The current model prediction matches the experimental data better than simulation results of our previous skeletal muscle model (6), particularly at the lowest work rates. These findings, consistent with our previous studies, demonstrate that the observed relationships between workload and phosphate metabolites in skeletal muscle are explained by a model in which ATP synthesis is primarily controlled by feedback of substrate (ADP and inorganic phosphate) concentrations.
Predictions
Regulation of Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle Fluxes by NAD and ADP—Although a large number of regulatory mechanisms are simulated in the model, the primary control of tricarboxylic acid cycle fluxes is expected to be through cellular phosphorylation potential and redox state. There can be no net flux through the tricarboxylic acid cycle when concentration of either NAD or ADP, which serve as substrates for reactions in the cycle, is zero. Thus, when the ratios [ATP]/[ADP] and [NADH]/[NAD] are high, we expect the tricarboxylic acid cycle reaction fluxes to be inhibited by simple mass action. In addition, the allosteric inhibition of several enzymes (e.g. inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase by NADH and ACCOA) has important effects.
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A third set of simulations of the integrated cell model was conducted with the matrix Pi concentration clamped at 0.8 mM. The corresponding results are labeled curve 3 in the figure. Therefore, curve 3 represents predictions where all control related to changes in mitochondrial Pi is removed from the model.
Both forms of the reduced model fail to reproduce the physiological response of the cell to changes in work rate. When regulation of complex III is not included, the predicted cellular ADP and Pi concentrations are systematically higher than the measured data, and the energetic state of the cell (reflected in the ATP hydrolysis potential) is diminished. When matrix Pi is clamped, the deviations from the experimental observations and the energetic state of the cell is more impaired compared with the normal case, because the effects of Pi on both the tricarboxylic acid cycle activity and oxidative phosphorylation are not included in these simulations. Thus, inorganic phosphate concentration is a key signal in determining the mitochondrial response to cellular energy demands.
Effects of Cytosolic pH on Mitochondrial Function—Cytoplasmic pH in skeletal muscle tends to decrease during heavy exercise due to excess acidifying glycolytic flux (4, 13). In addition, acidosis occurs in the heart during ischemia. To analyze the capacity of mitochondria to synthesize ATP during acidosis, the current model applied to in vivo skeletal muscle is simulated at different values of cytoplasmic pH. Plotted in Fig. 9 are model-predicted membrane potential and cytoplasmic ATP, ADP, and Pi as functions of work rate for cytoplasmic pH values 6.4, 6.7, and 7.0. The predictions at pH 7.0 correspond to those reported in Fig. 7 for normal oxidative metabolism.
Decreasing the cytoplasmic pH results in a drop in mitochondrial membrane potential, which reduces the free energy level at which the ANT can deliver ATP to the cytoplasm. The result is a reduced concentration of ATP and increased concentrations of ADP and Pi compared with normal. Thus, the model predicts that the oxidative work capacity of muscle decreases as the cytoplasmic pH value decreases.
| DISCUSSION |
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Based on the present modeling results and previous results focusing on oxidative phosphorylation, we propose that the control of mitochondrial ATP synthesis is dominated by ADP- and Pi-driven activation of oxidative phosphorylation and NAD- and Pi-driven activation of the tricarboxylic acid cycle. Inorganic phosphate plays a significant role in stimulating both oxidative phosphorylation and tricarboxylic acid cycle, as originally proposed by Bose et al. (25).
Mitochondrial Metabolite Transporters—As illustrated in Fig. 1, the majority of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediates are exchanged between the mitochondrion and its external environment. Thus, in order to use data from experiments using purified suspensions of mitochondria to identify a model of mitochondrial function that includes tricarboxylic acid cycle kinetics and to use the identified model to simulate in vivo function, it is necessary to account for the nine metabolite transporters and exchangers considered here. Since this model facilitates the simulation of mitochondrial suspensions respiring on different substrates under different conditions, it was possible to parameterize and challenge the model by a large number of independent experiments.
According to the model parameterization, the majority of tricarboxylic acid cycle intermediate transporter fluxes operate near equilibrium. This is consistent with the observations of Williamson et al. (22, 27) and justifies our use of simple mass action expressions for most transport fluxes. The AKG2–/ MAL2– and ASP–/HGLU0 exchangers are modeled using more detailed mechanisms to account for observed phenomena. The AKG2–/MAL2– exchanger flux (Equation B93 in Appendix B in the supplemental materials), which is modeled based on a rapid equilibrium random mechanism (35), competes with
-ketoglutarate, as observed by LaNoue et al. (26). The ASP–/HGLU0 exchanger is unique in that it is driven by both the membrane potential and proton gradient (21, 27, 28). The ASP–/HGLU0 flux expression (Equation B96 in Appendix B in the supplemental materials) is derived based on the rapid equilibrium random bi-bi mechanism with charge translocation, developed by Dierks et al. (21). Since both the AKG2–/MAL2– and ASP–/HGLU0 exchangers are parts of the malate-aspartate shuttle, their behavior is likely to be strongly coupled with substrate metabolism in the cytoplasm. In addition, several mitochondrial transport proteins have been shown to be nonselective and operate on multiple substrates. For example, the citrate carrier exchanges substrates citrate, isocitrate, and
-ketoglutarate, and the dicarboxylate carrier acts on succinate, malate, and inorganic phosphate (36, 37). Because of similar structures and molecular weights among certain tricarboxylic acid intermediates, these intermediates may compete with each other for binding sites (19).
Thus, the mass action models used here for some of the metabolite transporters may be too simplified to mimic function under all physiologically relevant conditions. In particular, an oversimplified model for the tricarboxylate carrier (HCIT2–/MAL2– antiporter) is possibly responsible for the mismatch between simulations and experimental data in Fig. 2B. It is possible to improve the fit of Fig. 2B by lowering the activity of this transporter in the model. However, doing this increases the overall error for all experiments. Similarly, the simulated time scale of glutamate/aspartate exchange under state-2 conditions could be made to more closely match the experimental data in Fig. 2F by reducing the activity of the GLU–/H+ co-transporter. However, matching the data of Bose et al. (25), which were obtained using glutamate and malate as substrates, requires the relatively high GLU–/H+ co-transporter activity.
Challenges in Large Scale Computational Modeling—One major difficulty in constructing large scale integrated computational models of cellular biochemical systems is that they must be constructed based on components and data that are not always ideally compatible. For example, although the data used for identification and validation of the model presented in Figs. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 of this study were all obtained from mitochondria isolated from heart, the developed model was then applied to explain data on skeletal muscle energetics in humans. Related to this issue is the fact that certain kinetic parameters used in this study were obtained from studies on enzymes obtained from different species and tissue types (e.g. kinetic parameters for citrate synthase were obtained from studies on enzyme obtained from rat liver and bovine heart; see section C3 in the supplemental materials). In addition, in this study, data of LaNoue et al. (23) obtained at 28 °C were used in concert with data from Bose et al. (25) obtained at 37 °C. As described in detail in the supplemental materials, the temperature effects on reaction thermodynamics were explicitly accounted for. However, since not enough data are available to develop a separate set of activity parameters for both data sets, the same enzyme activities are used for both temperatures. This fact may account for the systematic underprediction of the overall rate of oxidative phosphorylation measured at 37 °C (see Fig. 4B).
Since issues of this sort are currently unavoidable in integrating models and data of the scale and scope addressed here, it is critical that such details are clearly and openly documented. As we have outlined under "Materials and Methods," we have exhaustively documented not only the sources of the kinetic parameter values used in this study in the supplemental materials, but we have also tabulated the species and tissue source along with alternative values where available.
Future Work—Although calcium has been shown to regulate mitochondrial energetics (38), the effect of calcium is not explicitly included in either oxidative phosphorylation or tricarboxylic acid cycle fluxes in this model. Our model prediction that substrate feedback primarily controls mitochondrial ATP synthesis in different energy states agrees with findings of Williamson, LaNoue, and other researchers (25, 33, 34). However, this finding does not conflict with the potential role of the calcium ion in allosteric regulation of certain tricarboxylic acid cycle enzymes (38). In fact, the role of calcium as a feed-forward signal in muscle cells has been demonstrated in previous modeling efforts (39). The parameterization of the current model is based on data where the calcium concentrations are expected to be saturating for allosteric binding calcium to regulatory elements and thus does not account for those calcium-regulatory mechanisms. Future applications of the current model will require that the role of Ca2+ in regulating pyruvate dehydrogenase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, and
-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase be considered.
By providing a detailed description of mitochondrial metabolism that accounts for detailed biochemical thermodynamics, ion binding, and pH-dependent properties of biochemical reactions and ionic charge balance, the current model is the basis for future models accounting for additional pathways, including glycogenolysis and fatty acid metabolism. Such expanded models will be used to analyze experimental data sets and to investigate the regulation of energy metabolism in normal and diseased states. We propose that any extensions to the current model should be required to match the data used in the present study as well as or better than the current model does, in addition to matching additional data sets used to parameterize additional model components. Following this protocol will ensure that as computational models of cellular systems evolve in complexity and scale, their predicted behaviors are ideally matched to as much of the relevant available data as possible.
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The on-line version of this article (available at http://www.jbc.org) contains Appendices A–D. ![]()
1 To whom correspondence should be addressed: Dept. of Physiology, Medical College of Wisconsin, 8701 Watertown Plank Rd., Milwaukee, WI 53226. Tel.: 414-456-5752; Fax: 414-456-6568; E-mail: dbeard{at}mcw.edu.
2 The abbreviation used is: ANT, adenine nucleotide translocase. ![]()
| ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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| REFERENCES |
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