Identification of metabolic characteristics through metabolic flux analysis using MetaFluxNet
Tae Yong Kim1, Soon Ho Hong2, Sang Yup Lee
1kimty@webmail.kaist.ac.kr, Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology; 2totenkof@mail.kaist.ac.kr, Metabolic and Biomolecular Engineering National Research Laboratory, Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
Metabolic engineering can be defined as directed modification of cellular metabolism and properties using recombinant DNA. In these days, metabolic flux analysis, which allows calculation of the intracellular metabolic fluxes by the measurement of extracellular metabolite concentrations in combination with the stoichiometry of intracellular reactions, has become an essential tools for metabolic engineering. In this study, we applied new MFA software (MetaFluxNet) to identify metabolic characteristics of Escherichia coli. The variation of intracellular metabolic flux distributions of E. coli was estimated by MFA under various conditions, and the response of metabolic fluxes were evaluated. From the results of these study, we identified functions of certain metabolic pathways. As verified in this study, MFA could be used for the identification of new metabolic pathways, and considering the simplicity of MFA wide application of MFA for the pathway function identification of various microorganisms is predicted.
(This work was supported by the Advanced Backbone IT Technology Development Project (IMT2000-C3-1) of the Ministry of Information and Communication (MIC) and Korean Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) and by the National Research Laboratory Program of the MOST. Hardware support by the IBM-SUR program is greatly appreciated.)