{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,6,3]],"date-time":"2026-06-03T17:06:19Z","timestamp":1780506379271,"version":"3.54.1"},"reference-count":43,"publisher":"Wiley","issue":"11","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772668800000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"},{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,5]],"date-time":"2026-03-05T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1772668800000},"content-version":"tdm","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"http:\/\/doi.wiley.com\/10.1002\/tdm_license_1.1"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":["The FEBS Journal"],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2026,6]]},"abstract":"<jats:p>\n                    Chemical potentials (molar Gibbs energies) are usually extrapolated to the remote physical\u2013chemical reference state and then stored. Subsequent use under\n                    <jats:italic>in vivo<\/jats:italic>\n                    conditions requires a similarly substantial, reverse extrapolation, again with significant potential errors. In order to shrink both extrapolations drastically and thereby enhance both biological meaning and accuracy, we propose a transformation to a more biological reference state: pH\u2009=\u20097, pMg\u2009=\u20093, 99.5% water, with 1\u2009m\n                    <jats:sc>m<\/jats:sc>\n                    each of the additional \u2018precursors\u2019 inorganic phosphate, sulfate, ammonium, and bicarbonate, and with twin temperatures 37 and 25\u2009\u00b0C, ionic strength 0.15\u2009\n                    <jats:sc>m<\/jats:sc>\n                    and m\n                    <jats:sc>m<\/jats:sc>\n                    as concentration unit. These precursors substitute for reference compounds alien to biology such as H\n                    <jats:sub>2<\/jats:sub>\n                    at 1\u2009bar, and solid graphite, sulfur, and phosphorus. The standard chemical potentials are herewith increased by the magnitudes of the chemical potentials of protons, Mg\n                    <jats:sup>2+<\/jats:sup>\n                    , water, and the four precursors, each multiplied by the number of corresponding atoms in the molecule. This defines standard \u2018metabolic potentials\u2019. We make these potentials findable and accessible as 1360 collated standard chemical potentials for 320 compounds of biochemical interest at the twin metabolic reference states. We do this for 3 reference pH's: We present the\n                    <jats:italic>metabolic reference state<\/jats:italic>\n                    as a convenient\n                    <jats:italic>anchor<\/jats:italic>\n                    , not a universal intracellular milieu. All datasets must continue to report the\n                    <jats:italic>actual<\/jats:italic>\n                    experimental state (\n                    <jats:italic>T<\/jats:italic>\n                    , pH, pMg,\n                    <jats:italic>I<\/jats:italic>\n                    , osmolarity, concentrations), yet aim at (also) reporting parameter values for this anchor state; we supply algorithms to transform between states. This preserves interoperability across diverse organelles, media and between enzymology and chemical engineering, while facilitating reuse.\n                  <\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1111\/febs.70415","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,3,8]],"date-time":"2026-03-08T10:22:37Z","timestamp":1772965357000},"page":"3111-3126","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1002\/crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Metabolic thermodynamics: pertinent reference state and energy potentials"],"prefix":"10.1111","volume":"293","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-0443-6114","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Hans V.","family":"Westerhoff","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Systems Biology Lab, A\u2010LIFE, AIMMS, Faculty of Science VU University Amsterdam  The Netherlands"},{"name":"Synthetic Systems Biology and Nuclear Organization Swammerdam Institute for Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam  The\u00a0Netherlands"},{"name":"Division of Evolution, Infection and Genomics, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health, School of Biological Sciences University of Manchester  UK"},{"name":"Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS), Wallenberg Research Centre at Stellenbosch University  South Africa"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6274-3633","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Barbara M.","family":"Bakker","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Medical Systems Biology, Laboratory of Pediatrics University Medical Center Groningen, University of Groningen  The Netherlands"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-4658-1675","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andreas S.","family":"Bommarius","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"School of Chemical &amp; Biomolecular Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology  Atlanta Georgia USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0004-1400-5811","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Maria Luz","family":"C\u00e1rdenas","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNRS, BIP, IMM  Marseille France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-6670-3006","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Athel","family":"Cornish\u2010Bowden","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNRS, BIP, IMM  Marseille France"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-8486-2024","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Paul","family":"Fitzpatrick","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"The University of Texas Health Science Center  San Antonio TX USA"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5077-4088","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Peter 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Life Sciences, University of Amsterdam  The\u00a0Netherlands"},{"name":"Sun Yat\u2010Sen Memorial Hospital Sun Yat\u2010Sen University  Guangzhou China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2727-176X","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Andrew G.","family":"McDonald","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Beilstein Institute  Frankfurt am Main Germany"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-8776-4799","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Elad","family":"Noor","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Department of Plant and Environmental Sciences Weizmann Institute of Science  Rehovot Israel"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-1045-8202","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"J\u00fcrgen","family":"Pleiss","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institute of Biochemistry University of 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