Abstract

Glycolysis is a fundamental metabolic pathway, and its precise regulation is crucial for maintaining cellular homeostasis, particularly in energy-demanding tissues like skeletal muscle. This study presents a computational **simulation of the glycolytic metabolite concentration profile in mammalian resting skeletal muscles**. The primary objective was to develop a robust kinetic model that accurately reflects the steady-state concentrations of key glycolytic intermediates under resting conditions, providing a baseline for understanding metabolic shifts during activity or disease. The methodology involved constructing a detailed biochemical reaction network, parameterizing it with literature-derived kinetic constants and physiological concentrations specific to mammalian muscle fibers, and solving the resulting system of ordinary differential equations. Key findings indicate that the model successfully reproduces the experimentally observed low flux and high concentration ratios of certain intermediates, suggesting a strong regulatory role for phosphofructokinase and hexokinase even at rest. Furthermore, the simulation highlights the sensitivity of the metabolite profile to small changes in ATP/ADP ratio. This work provides a valuable theoretical framework for future investigations into muscle bioenergetics, offering a non-invasive tool to predict metabolic responses to various stimuli.