etabolic regulation encompasses the M study of the controls of the flux of nu-trients and/or substrates into, out of, and within compartments and their associated metabolic pathways in cells. The mecha-nisms that control metabolism at all levels are various. Both genetic and dietary fac-tors may influence these mechanisms in such a manner that individuals within a population group vary greatly in the activity of given reactions or pathways. Hence, there are genotypes for obesity and/or dia-betes whose controls of lipid metabolism and/or glucose metabolism are abnormal regardless of diet, and there are other gen-otypes whose phenotypic expression of their genotype is inhibited or enhanced by the composition of the diet they consume. Still other genotypes will express normal phenotypic features of tight control of en-ergy balance, fat synthesis, fat storage, glu-cose utilization, and glycogen synthesis. In normal individuals, metabolic control mechanisms include redox state, calcium ion flux, phosphorylation state, substrate and product levels, enzyme concentration and activity, concentrations of cofactors, hormones, second messengers such as CAMP, and probably a whole host of other factors not yet identified. Membranes as Gatekeepers Although the cellular membranes serve as geographical boundaries of the cell and its compartments, these structures have metabolic control properties as well. They
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Carolyn D. Berdanier (2009) studied this question.