  Integrating biological information from different sources to understand
cellular processes is an important problem in systems biology. We use data from
mRNA expression arrays and chemical kinetics to formulate a metabolic model
relevant to K562 erythroleukemia cells. MAP kinase pathway activation alters
the expression of metabolic enzymes in K562 cells. Our array data show changes
in expression of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) isoforms after treatment with
phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), which activates MAP kinase signaling. We
model the change in lactate production which occurs when the MAP kinase pathway
is activated, using a non-equilibrium, chemical-kinetic model of homolactic
fermentation. In particular, we examine the role of LDH isoforms, which
catalyze the conversion of pyruvate to lactate. Changes in the isoform ratio
are not the primary determinant of the production of lactate. Rather, the total
concentration of LDH controls the lactate concentration.
