FIGURE 5.

Summary of the results of the respective effects of imegliminin and metformin on flux‐force relationships during oxidative phosphorylation. The redox potential is the driving force used by the mitochondrial respiratory chain to build up and maintain the membrane potential, which in turn is the driving force used by ATPase to convert ADP and phosphate to ATP, thereby creating the phosphate potential. Both imeglimin and metformin increase the redox potential and decrease the membrane potential. Such an increase in the potential span between the forces upstream and downstream the respiratory chain is consistent with a kinetic constraint imposed to the reaction. However, while metformin behaves as a noncompetitive inhibitor, thereby inhibiting the flux (oxygen consumption), imeglimin behaves as a competitive inhibitor and does not affect the flux. Once the membrane potential has decreased, ATP synthesis transiently decreases thereby decreasing phosphate potential, until the potential span at the level of the ATPase is enough to restore a steady‐state flux of ATP synthesis. The scheme summarizes flux‐force relationships in steady‐state conditions, assuming a similar potential span between the membrane potential and the phosphate potential regardless of the experimental conditions. The width of the arrow is proportional to the flux