In living systems, it is crucial to study the exchange of entropy that plays a fundamental role in the understanding of irreversible chemical reactions. However, there are not yet works able to describe in a systematic way the rate of entropy production associated to irreversible processes. Hence, here we develop a theoretical model to compute the rate of entropy in the minimum living system. In particular, we apply the model to the most interesting and relevant case of metabolic network, the glucose catabolism in normal and cancer cells. We show, (i) the rate of internal entropy is mainly due to irreversible chemical reactions, and (ii) the rate of external entropy is mostly correlated to the heat flow towards the intercellular environment. The future applications of our model could be of fundamental importance for a more complete understanding of self-renewal and physiopatologic processes and could potentially be a support for cancer detection.

Rate of entropy model for irreversible processes in living systems / Zivieri, R.; Pacini, N.; Finocchio, G.; Carpentieri, M.. - In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2045-2322. - 7:(2017). [10.1038/s41598-017-09530-5]

Rate of entropy model for irreversible processes in living systems

Carpentieri, M.
2017-01-01

Abstract

In living systems, it is crucial to study the exchange of entropy that plays a fundamental role in the understanding of irreversible chemical reactions. However, there are not yet works able to describe in a systematic way the rate of entropy production associated to irreversible processes. Hence, here we develop a theoretical model to compute the rate of entropy in the minimum living system. In particular, we apply the model to the most interesting and relevant case of metabolic network, the glucose catabolism in normal and cancer cells. We show, (i) the rate of internal entropy is mainly due to irreversible chemical reactions, and (ii) the rate of external entropy is mostly correlated to the heat flow towards the intercellular environment. The future applications of our model could be of fundamental importance for a more complete understanding of self-renewal and physiopatologic processes and could potentially be a support for cancer detection.
2017
Rate of entropy model for irreversible processes in living systems / Zivieri, R.; Pacini, N.; Finocchio, G.; Carpentieri, M.. - In: SCIENTIFIC REPORTS. - ISSN 2045-2322. - 7:(2017). [10.1038/s41598-017-09530-5]
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
Sci_Reports_7_9134_2017_Main.pdf

accesso aperto

Tipologia: Versione editoriale
Licenza: Creative commons
Dimensione 3.13 MB
Formato Adobe PDF
3.13 MB Adobe PDF Visualizza/Apri

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/11589/116193
Citazioni
  • Scopus 27
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 26
social impact