MITOCHONDRIAL ACTIVITY AND DEVELOPMENT - ENERGY CARRIER SELECTION IN A CONTROLLED REACTION-MECHANISM

There is evidence of an important role carried out by mitochondria and by proteins of mitochondrial origin during key moments of developments. We assume that it is possible to represent the energy activity of the cell through the level of ATP production and we propose a simple model system for the ATP/ADP cycle. The model takes into account the basic aspect of ATP dynamics in macromolecular synthesis and involves the possibility of selection between states of high and low protein production. A simple extension of the model leads to the creation of a mechanism enabling the establishment of self-sustained oscillations.