TOPOLOGICAL DETERMINANTS OF DYNAMIC MOLECULAR-PROPERTIES - A NETWORK THERMODYNAMIC APPROACH

Topology codifies organization through applications of graph theory and it is the organization of a system which is a key ingredient to its dynamics at any level, including the molecular level. One way of systematically relating a system's topology to its dynamics is through the network thermodynamic approach. Network thermodynamics is the next logical step in the development of thermodynamic reasoning, building on classical, linear non-equilibrium thermodynamics, and far from equilibrium thermodynamics. It marries these in a clear way with kinetics, enabling the use of mechanistic descriptions of systems in harmony with the more general thermodynamic description. The topology of structural organization as well as that of functional relationships is encoded via graph theory following the successes of modern electronics. The resultant approach to complex dynamic systems yields new results which demonstrate the central role of topology in defining the dynamic aspects of any system. Examples are given using systems which are important in biology, namely enzymatic Systems and membrane transport mechanisms.