Mathematical Modeling of Oxidative Phosphorylation in the Mitochondria

Abstract

Oxygen plays an important role in energy production within the mitochondria by facilitating ATP synthesis through the process of oxidative phosphorylation. Thus, understanding oxygen consumption is important for studying both cellular physiology and disease. This project updates an existing mitochondrial model to include oxygen consumption using ordinary differential equations (ODEs) that simulate chemical concentrations and metabolic reactions. Through FORTRAN-based simulations, the model tracks oxygen levels within the cell and calculates fluxes that represent major mitochondrial processes, such as Complex IV activity and the detoxification of reactive oxygen species (ROS). These equations are then solved with the Fourth Order Runge-Kutta method, allowing the model to compute changes in chemical concentrations and simulate biological responses to varying oxygen levels. Preliminary results indicate variation in oxygen consumption rates with different initial ADP concentrations, which is being examined to ensure that oxygen uptake is accurately modeled. Future work will consequently focus on simulating hypoxic conditions to study their impact on mitochondrial behavior. Overall, incorporating oxygen consumption into the model allows for the analysis of how oxygen availability affects mitochondrial behavior, serving as a stepping stone to simulate disease-like conditions.