Free energy and the kinetics of biochemical diagrams, including active transport.

In earlier papers on muscle contraction it was found very useful to relate the actual (not standard) free energy levels of the different states in the biochemical diagram of the myosin cross-bridge to the first-order rate constants governing transitions between these states and to the details of the conversion of ATP free energy into mechanical work. This same approach is applied here to other macromolecular biochemical systems, for example, carriers in active transport, and simple enzyme reactions. With the definition of free energy changes between states of diagram used here (and in the muscle papers), the rate constants of the diagram are firat order, the macromolecular transitions are effectively isomeric, the equilibrium constants are dimensionless, the free energy changes are directly related to first-order rate constant ratios, and the ratio of products of forward and backward rate constants around any cycle of the diagram is related to operational free energy changes (e.g. the in vivo free energy of ADP HYDROLYSIS). These general points are illustrated by means of particular arbitrary models, especially transport models. In contrast to the muscle case, the free energy conversion question in other biochemical systems can be handled at the less detailed, complete-cycle level rather than at the elementary transition level. There is a corresponding complete-cycle kinetics, with composite first-order rate constants for the different possible cycles (in both directions). An introductory stochastic treatment of cycle kinetics is included.