Energy and the maintenance of steady states

When, on addition of a suitable substrate, a chemical potential is applied to an enzymic process such as glycolysis or respiration whether in solution or membrane-bound, all components of the process pass into a non-equilibrium state, which might be steady or non-steady and which produces the following phenomena: 1. (1)|The reactants of each enzymic reaction are displaced from their equilibrium concentration, and energy is dissipated; 2. (2)|Part of each enzyme is transferred to a transition state of its catalytic function as well as isosteric and allosteric controlling functions, displaying local and gross conformation changes, and a rate-controlling state is generated; 3. (3)|In cyclic portions of a process futile events and chemical interconversion may occur; 4. (4)|In self- and cross-coupled portions of a process, oscillation with periodic changes of states and spatial propagation as well as instabilities may be observed; 5. (5)|At each step of a process, depending on the rate of flux and the specific enzymic function, a varying portion of the free energy changes — which are concentration-dependent and derived from the overall potential of the system — is contributed to the control of flux rates. This will be exemplified for enzymes of bioenergetic pathways.