A Structural Theory of Admissible Transitions in Biological Reaction Networks

Abstract

Biological reaction networks often exhibit complex transient behavior that cannot be explained solely by the analysis of steady states or long-term persistence. Existing structural approaches identify persistent system properties and have considered transitions between organizations, but do not provide a general criterion for admissible transitions between arbitrary species configurations. We introduce admissible transitions, a new structural concept that describes feasible changes between species subsets using only reaction network structure and feasible reaction fluxes, independently of kinetic parameters. We prove that solutions of reaction-based ordinary differential equation systems induce canonical sequences of admissible transitions with a fundamental asymmetry: closure-building transitions are uniquely determined by network structure, whereas downward transitions are generally non-unique and depend on the realized trajectory. This establishes a structural layer linking network topology to transient system evolution. The framework is illustrated using a classical HIV immune-response model. By extending structural reaction network analysis from persistent states to transient dynamics, the proposed theory provides a general, kinetics-independent framework for analyzing reachability, organization formation, and transient behavior in biological systems.