Uses isotope tracers and models to measure reaction rates through metabolic networks.
Labelled substrates (13C-glucose) are traced by mass spectrometry or NMR. Flux balance analysis predicts distribution using stoichiometry and constraints.
Flux is the rate of flow through a pathway, not concentration. Steady-state labelling reveals pathway activity.
Example: 13C tracing shows how tumour cells use glucose and glutamine.
Uses isotope tracers and models to measure reaction rates through metabolic networks.
Metabolic Flux Analysis is one of the 53 topics in Metabolism & Bioenergetics. It is rated Advanced, so it suits learners who want specialist depth. Related topics in this area include Systems Biology of Metabolism, Metabolomics, Glycolysis.
It identified how cancer cells use glutamine.
Work through the Beginner topics in Metabolism & Bioenergetics first, such as Metabolism, Anabolism and Catabolism, ATP, then return to Metabolic Flux Analysis. Advanced topics assume the Intermediate vocabulary.
The closest topics to Metabolic Flux Analysis are Systems Biology of Metabolism, Metabolomics, Glycolysis, Metabolism. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Metabolic Flux Analysis. To practise the whole of Metabolism & Bioenergetics, use the Metabolism & Bioenergetics quiz.
Metabolic Flux Analysis: Uses isotope tracers and models to measure reaction rates through metabolic networks. Systems Biology of Metabolism: Genome-scale models predict growth and pathway usage under constraints. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Systems Biology of Metabolism and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Metabolism & Bioenergetics quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
Genome-scale models predict growth and pathway usage under constraints.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsLarge-scale measurement of small metabolites to profile the physiological state of cells and tissues.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsA ten-step pathway in the cytoplasm that splits glucose into two pyruvate, yielding net 2 ATP and 2 NADH.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsThe sum of all chemical reactions in an organism, including anabolic building and catabolic breakdown.
⚡ Metabolism & Bioenergetics