Metabolism and Enzymes Overview
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Questions and Answers

What is the primary function of metabolism in cells?

  • To generate waste products for excretion
  • To create heat and light energy
  • To perform all cellular processes through chemical reactions (correct)
  • To store genetic information
  • Which term describes the process of building larger molecules from smaller ones?

  • Anabolism (correct)
  • Decomposition
  • Catabolism
  • Hydrolysis
  • What characterizes catabolic reactions?

  • They synthesize new molecules from energy
  • They break down molecules to store energy
  • They release energy during the breakdown of larger molecules (correct)
  • They require energy input to proceed
  • How do enzymes function in metabolic reactions?

    <p>By binding to substrates and facilitating reactions without being consumed</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of substrates in enzymatic reactions?

    <p>They are the molecules that enzymes interact with</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What differentiates simple enzymes from conjugated enzymes?

    <p>Simple enzymes are only proteins, while conjugated enzymes have non-protein components</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What happens to enzymes when they denature?

    <p>They lose their functional shape and effectiveness</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following best describes an exergonic reaction?

    <p>A reaction that releases energy</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the name of the protein portion of a conjugated enzyme?

    <p>Apoenzyme</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which type of cofactor is classified as organic?

    <p>Coenzymes</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What mechanism do enzymes follow when catalyzing reactions?

    <p>Lock and key mechanism</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which class of enzymes is responsible for cleaving bonds on molecules with the addition of water?

    <p>Hydrolases</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes exoenzymes from endoenzymes?

    <p>Exoenzymes are transported extracellularly and can be harmful to host cells.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which example describes a constitutive enzyme?

    <p>Enzymes required for the metabolism of glucose.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which enzyme class is not involved in transferring functional groups?

    <p>Lyases</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the role of metallic cofactors in enzyme activity?

    <p>They assist in precise functions between enzyme and substrate.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the maximum yield of ATP from anaerobic respiration?

    <p>36-38 ATP</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which process exclusively utilizes glycolysis for ATP production?

    <p>Fermentation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What compound is pyruvic acid converted to before entering the Krebs cycle?

    <p>Acetyl CoA</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary role of the electron transport system in ATP synthesis?

    <p>Receive electrons from NADH and FADH2</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is an end product of alcoholic fermentation?

    <p>Ethanol and CO2</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary role of NAD in metabolic reactions?

    <p>It carries hydrogens and electrons from dehydrogenation reactions.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What causes the release of energy when ATP is converted to ADP?

    <p>The repelling electrostatic charges between the phosphate groups.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which of the following is NOT one of the basic catabolic pathways?

    <p>Photolysis</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What is the primary purpose of substrate-level phosphorylation?

    <p>To directly transfer a phosphate group to ADP to generate ATP.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which process uses sunlight-driven reactions to form ATP?

    <p>Photophosphorylation</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What occurs during enzyme repression?

    <p>Synthesis of the enzyme is halted at some point in its pathway.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What distinguishes competitive inhibition from noncompetitive inhibition?

    <p>Only competitive inhibition can be reversed by increasing substrate concentration.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    How do exergonic and endergonic reactions interact?

    <p>Energy released from exergonic reactions is used to drive endergonic reactions forward.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Which statement about oxidation and reduction is correct?

    <p>Reduced molecules generally have more energy than oxidized molecules.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What role does phosphorylation play in cellular energy transfer?

    <p>It transfers energy by adding an inorganic phosphate to ADP or other compounds.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    What triggers the induction of enzymes?

    <p>The presence of a suitable substrate.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    In the process of noncompetitive inhibition, what happens to the enzyme?

    <p>It cannot interact with the substrate regardless of substrate concentration.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Generally, what is the effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity?

    <p>An optimal concentration increases enzyme activity until saturation.</p> Signup and view all the answers

    Study Notes

    Metabolism

    • All the chemical reactions and workings of a cell
    • Accomplishes processes through anabolism and catabolism
    • Conserves energy in the form of ATP or heat
    • Electrons are critical to metabolic processes

    Anabolism

    • Making smaller molecules into larger molecules
    • Also known as biosynthesis, the synthesis of cell structures
    • Requires the input of energy

    Catabolism

    • The opposite of anabolism
    • Breaking down larger molecules to release energy
    • Related to exergonic reactions, which release energy

    Enzymes

    • Catalysts that speed up the rate of a chemical reaction without becoming part of the products or being consumed in the reaction
    • Speed up reactions by about 1000x million times compared to a reaction without enzymes
    • Bind to substrates and participate directly in changes to the substrate, but do not become part of the product, are not used up in the reaction, and can function repeatedly until they denature or are shut off.
    • Substrates are the reaction molecules with which the enzymes interact

    The Structure of Enzymes

    • Enzymes can be simple or conjugated

      • Simple enzymes consist of the protein alone.
      • Conjugated enzymes, also known as holoenzymes, contain a protein and some other non protein molecule.
        • The protein portion of the conjugated (holoenzyme) is called the apoenzyme. This is where the substrate binds, and is also called the active site or the catalytic site.
        • The nonprotein portion of the holoenzymes is called a cofactor.
          • Organic cofactors are called coenzymes; Inorganic cofactors are metallic cofactors.
            • Organic cofactors (coenzymes) work with the apoenzyme to alter the substrate. They remove a chemical group from one substrate and add it to another substrate. They can carry and transfer hydrogen atoms, electrons, carbon dioxide, and amino groups.
            • Metallic (non-organic) cofactors such as iron, copper, magnesium, zinc, cobalt, selenium, etc. assist with precise functions between enzyme and substrate. They help bring the substrate and active site to each other and participate directly in chemical reactions.
    • Enzymes have their own primary structure, variations in folding, and a unique active site specific to the substrate.

    • Enzymes follow a lock & key mechanism.

    • Enzyme processes take place very quickly, up to 1 million times per second!

    Six Classes of Enzymes

    • Oxidoreductases: transfer electrons from one substance to another OR
      • Dehydrogenases: transfer a hydrogen from one compound to another
    • Transferases: transfer functional groups from one substrate to another
    • Hydrolases: cleave bonds on molecules with the addition of water
    • Lyases: add groups or remove groups from double-bonded substrates
    • Isomerases: change a substrate to its isomeric form (same formula, different atomic arrangements)
    • Ligases: catalyze the formation of bonds with the input of ATP and the removal of water

    Location of Enzymes: Exoenzymes and Endoenzymes

    • Exoenzymes are more harmful to host cells. They are transported extracellularly and break down large food molecules or harmful chemicals. They are made within the cell and transported out of the cell.
    • Endoenzymes are made within the cell and function within the cell. Most enzymes of metabolic pathways are endoenzymes.

    Enzyme Regulation

    • Enzymes can either be constitutive enzymes or regulated enzymes.
      • Constitutive enzymes are present in relatively consistent amounts, regardless of the cell’s environment. An example would be enzymes used for glucose, because glucose is an extremely constant molecule utilized by cells.
      • Regulated enzymes can either be induced or repressed in response to changed in concentration of the SUBSTRATES.
        • Enzyme repression stops further synthesis of an enzyme somewhere along its pathway.
          • Types of inhibition/repression of enzymes
            • Competitive inhibition is when a molecule resembles the substrate and occupies the active site, preventing the substrate from binding. Because of this, the enzyme cannot get rid of the inhibitor and shuts down.
            • Noncompetitive inhibition: an enzyme may have different binding sites, a binding site and a regulatory site. When the regulatory molecule binds to the enzyme, it chemically changes the active site. This process is caused by when a certain concentration of a product is reached and the enzyme is not needed.
        • Enzyme induction
          • Enzymes are only induced/appear when a suitable substrate is present; this is the inverse of enzyme repression.

    Energy in Cells

    • Exergonic reactions: release energy as they go forward; energy is available for doing cellular work.
    • Endergonic reactions: require the addition of energy to move forward.
    • Both exergonic and endergonic reactions are coupled together. The released energy from exergonic reactions are immediately used for endergonic reactions.

    Biological Oxidation and Reduction

    • Oxidation: loss of electrons; the compound that loves the electron is oxidized (broken down)
    • Reduction: gain of electrons; the compound that receives the electron is reduced
    • Generally, a reduced molecule has more energy than the oxidized molecule.

    Phosphorylation

    • The energy captured in the electron carrier is used to phosphorylate (add inorganic phosphate) to ADP or another compound.
    • Stores energy in a high energy molecule such as ATP.

    Electron Carriers

    • Different electron carriers exist, with the most common being NAD (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).
    • NAD carries hydrogens and electrons from dehydrogenation reactions.
    • Dehydrogenation reactions occur during a redox reaction when hydrogens are removed from a compound.
    • Reduced NAD looks like this: NADH H+ or NADH.
    • The NADH can now transfer the H+ ion to pave the way for another metabolic reaction. In other words, NAD is an electron carrier.

    ATP: universal currency for energy!

    • Made up of adenine (nitrogenous base) + ribose (5-carbon sugar), and three phosphate groups binded to the ribose
    • The phosphate group is bulky, with a negative charge. Their repelling electrostatic charges imposes a strain between the last two phosphate groups, and the breaking of the phosphates releases a lot of energy.
    • ATP replenishment is an ongoing cycle; when it is used in a chemical reaction, it must be replaced immediately.

    Metabolic Roles of ATP

    • Substrate-level phosphorylation: the generation of ATP through a transfer of a phosphate group from a phosphorylated compound directly to ADP.
    • Oxidative phosphorylation: a series of redox reactions occurring during the final phase of the respiratory pathway.
    • Photophosphorylation: ATP formed through a series of sunlight-driven reactions in phototrophs.

    Three Basic Catabolic Pathways

    • Aerobic respiration
    • Anaerobic Respiration
    • Fermentation

    Glycolysis: most commonly used to breakdown glucose!

    • Aerobic respiration converts glucose to CO2 and allows the cell to recover significant amounts of energy.
    • Uses: glycolysis, Krebs cycle, and ETC
    • Yields: 36-38 ATPs
    • Aerobic respiration: energy yielding scheme for aerobic heterotrophs.

    Anaerobic Respiration

    • Utilizes glycolysis, Krebs Cycle, and the ETC; however, yields 2-36 ATPs; final electron acceptor can be NO3-, SO4 2-, CO3 2- or other OXIDIZED compounds.

    Fermentation

    • Only uses glycolysis; oxygen is NOT required.

    Glycolysis

    • Glucose is enzymatically converted to pyruvic acid; synthesizes a small amount of ATP
    • Pyruvic acid allows strict aerobes and some anaerobes to send it to the Krebs cycle for processing and energy release; facultative anaerobes utilize it for acids or other products.

    The Krebs Cycle

    • Pyruvic acid is converted to acetyl CoA before entering the cycle, then is converted to citric acid. NADH is formed is moved to the ETC to produce ATP; all reactions in the Krebs Cycle occurs twice.
    • The Krebs cycle yields: 4 CO2, 6 NADH, 2 FADH2, and 2 ATP (reduced NADH and FADH2 and 2 ATP through substrate-level phosphorylation).

    The Electron Transport System

    • Receives the electrons from NADH and FADH2; ATP synthase synthesizes ATP from H+ ions that allow it to go through the cell membrane and bind with ADP to form ATP.
    • The proton motive force is the concentration gradient of hydrogen ions through the membrane; in prokaryotic cells, this happens in the cytoplasmic membrane; in eukaryotic cells it occurs in the mitochondrial membranes.
    • Yields 34 ATP

    Fermentation

    • The incomplete oxidation of glucose or other carbohydrates in the absence of oxygen
    • Uses organic compounds as the terminal electron acceptors
    • Only yields 2 ATP
    • End products of alcoholic fermentation are ethanol and CO2; occurs in yeast or bacterial species.

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    Description

    Explore the intricacies of metabolism, including the processes of anabolism and catabolism. Learn how enzymes function as catalysts to accelerate chemical reactions and their roles in energy conservation. This quiz covers essential concepts of cellular chemistry and energy transformation.

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