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Rate-Limiting Step

The slowest step in a metabolic pathway dictates the overall flux rate, influencing the pathway's efficiency and regulation.
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The statement of the theorem

Consider a metabolic pathway composed of EE sequential reactions, R1→R2→⋯→RER_1 \to R_2 \to \dots \to R_E, with individual maximum reaction rates Vmax,iV_{\text{max}, i}. The overall maximum flux JoverallJ_{\text{overall}} is constrained by the minimum capacity of the steps. Formally, the system flux JJ is bounded by the minimum of the individual reaction capacities: \begin{equation} J \le \min_{i=1}^{E} \left( V_{\text{max}, i} \right) \end{equation}. If the system operates under quasi-steady-state conditions, the rate-limiting step RkR_k is defined such that Vmax,k=min⁡i=1E(Vmax,i)V_{\text{max}, k} = \min_{i=1}^{E} \left( V_{\text{max}, i} \right), thereby determining the system's maximum throughput.
Source: Wikipedia