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Functional purpose of biochemical futile cycles across biological systems

Determine the biological purpose of biochemical futile cycles—which dissipate energy and return molecules to their starting state—in systems such as protein synthesis, muscular contraction, metabolism, and sensory pathways.

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Background

Futile cycles are non-equilibrium reaction motifs that consume energy (e.g., ATP or GTP) yet return the system to its original state. They are widespread across diverse biological contexts.

The review highlights that recent stochastic topological models often use futile cycles as building blocks, suggesting these motifs may collectively support robust, topologically protected behaviors, but their organismal function remains unresolved across contexts.

References

Despite seeming wasteful (or futile, as their name suggests), such cycles can be found in protein synthesis, muscular contraction, metabolism, and sensory systems -- where their purpose across all these disparate systems remains unclear.

— Topological phases in discrete stochastic systems (2406.03925 - Agudo-Canalejo et al., 6 Jun 2024) in Section 3 (Topological phases in discrete classical systems), paragraph on futile cycles