Free Term Paper
on Cellular Pathways
Cellular Pathways
Several
principles govern metabolic pathways in the cell:
A. Complex chemical
transformations in the cell do not occur in a single reaction, but in a number
of small steps that are connected in a pathway.
B. Each reaction is
catalyzed by a specific enzyme.
C. Metabolic pathways is catalyzed by a
specific enzyme.
D. Many metabolic pathways are compartmentalized, with
certain steps occurring inside an organelle.
E. Metabolic pathways in
organisms are regulated by the activities of a few enzyme.
Obtaining
Energy and Electrons from Glucose
The most common fuel for living
cells is the sugar Glucose.
Cells trap energy while metabolizing
glucose
If glucose is burned in a flame, it readily forms carbon
dioxide, water, and a lot of energy----but only if oxygen gas(O2) is present.
The balance equation for this combustion reaction is:
C6 H12 O6 + 6 O2
---- 6 CO2 + 6 H2O + ENERGY (HEAT AND LIGHT)
This same equation applies
to the metabolism of glucose in cells, except that metabolism is a multi-step,
controlled series of reactions, ending up with almost half of the energy
captured in ATP.
Three metabolic processes play roles in the utilization
of glucose for energy: GLYCOSIS, CELLULAR RESPIRATION, AND FERMENTATION.
A. Glycosis is a series of reactions that begins the metabolism of
glucose in all cells and produces the three-carbon product pyruvate. A small
amount of the energy stored in the glucose is released in usable form.
B. Cellular Respiration occurs when the environment is aerobic (contains
oxygen gas , O2), and essentially converts pyruvate to carbon (CO2). In the
process, a great deal of the energy stored in the covalent bonds of pyruvate is
released and trapped in ATP.
C. Fermentation occurs when the environment
is anaerobic (lacking in O2). Instead of energy-poor CO2, relatively energy-rich
molecules such as lactic acid or ethanol are produced, so the energy extracted
from glucose is far than under aerobic conditions.
Redox reactions
transfer electrons and energy
a.Reaction in which one substance
transfers one or more electrons to another substance is called an
oxidation-reduction reaction, or redox-reaction.
The gain of one or more
electrons by an atom, ion, or molecule is called reduction. The loss of one or
more electron is called oxidation.
Oxidation and reduction always occur
together.
In a redox reaction, energy is transferred.
The
coenzyme NAD is a key electron carrier in redox reactions
The main pair
of oxidizing and reducing agents in cells is based on the compound NAD
(NICOTINAMIDE ADENINE DINUCLEOTIDE).
An Overview: Releasing Energy
from Glucose
The three energy-extracting processes of cells may be
divided into distinct pathways:
A. When O2 is available as the final
electron acceptor, four pathways operate. Glycosis takes place first, and is
followed by the three pathways of cellular respiration: pyruvate oxidation, the
citric acid cycle, and the respiration.
B.When O2 is unavailable ,
pyruvate oxidation, the citric acid cycle , and the respiratory chain do not
function, and fermentation is added to the glycolytic pathway.
In
prokaryotes, the enzymes the used in glycolysis, fermentation, and the citric
acid cycle are soluble in the cytosol.
In eukaryotes, glycosis and
fermentation take place in the cytoplasm outside of the mitochondria.
Glycosis begins the breakdown of glucose.
Cellular Respiration
operates when O2 is available, yielding Co2 and H2o as products.
In
pyruvate oxidation, the end product of glycosis(pyruvate) is oxidized to
acetate, which is activated by the addition of a coenzyme and further
metabolized by the citric acid cycle.
The Citric Acid cycle is a cycle
series of reactions in which the acetate becomes completely oxidized, forming
Co2 and transferring electrons (along with their hydrogen nuclei) to carrier
molecules.
The fourth energy-extracting pathway for aerobic cells is the
Respiratory Chain., which releases energy from the reduced NADH+H+ in such a way
that it can be used to form ATP.
Glycosis:From Glucose to
Pyruvate
Glycosis can be divided into two groups of reactions:
energy-investing reactions that use ATP, and energy-harvesting reactions that
produce ATP.
The energy-investing reactions of glycolysis require
ATP
The first five reactions are endergonic; that is, the cell is
investing free energy rather than gaining it during the early reactions of
glycosis.
A kinase is an enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a
phosphate group from ATP to another substrate.
The energy-investing
reactions of glycolysis yield ATP and NADH + H+
Substrate-Level
Phosphorylation is called substrate-level phosphorylation
Glycolysis
May Be Allowed By Fermentation
A review of the glycolytic shows that the
beginning of glycolysis, two molecules of ATP are used per molecule of glucose,
but that ultimately four molecules of ATP are produced (two for each of the two
BPG molecules)- a net gain of two ATP molecules and two NADH + H+
When
fermentation follows glycolysis, the total usable energy yield is just these two
ATP molecules per glucose molecule.
In eukaryotes, these reactions take
place in the mitochondria.
Pyruvate Oxidation
The
oxidation of pyruvate to acetate is link between glycolysis and cellular
respiration. Pyruvate oxidation is a multi-step reaction catalyzed by an
enormous enzyme complex that is attached to the inner mitochondria membrane.
There are three steps in this oxidation reaction:
A.
Pyruvate is oxidized to the acetyl group, and Co2 is released.
B. Part
of the energy from the oxidation in the first step is saved by the reduction of
NADH+ to NADH+ H+.
C. Some of the remaining energy is stored temporarily by
the combining of the acetyl group with CoA.
The Citric Acid Cycle
Acetyl CoA is the starting point for the citric acid cycle (also
called the Krebs cycle or the tricarboxylic cycle). This pathway, which consist
of eight reactions, completely oxidizes the two-carbon acetyl group to two
molecules of carbon dioxide. The free energy released from these reactions is
captured by NAD, FAD, ADP.
THE principle inputs to the citric cycle are
acetate(in the form of acetyl CoA), water, and oxidized electron carriers. The
principal outputs are carbon dioxide and reduced electron carriers. Overall, for
each acetyl group, the citric acid cycle removes two carbons as CO2 and uses
four, the pairs of hydrogen atoms to reduce carrier molecules.
The
citric acid cycle produces two Co2 molecules and reduced carriers
At the
beginning of the citric acid cycle , acetyl acetylCoA, whicjh has two carbon
atoms in its acetyl group, reacts with a four-carbon acid , oxaloacetate, to
form the six-carbon compound citrate (citric acid). The remainder of the cycle
consists of a series of enzyme –catalyzed reactions in which citrate is degraded
to a new four-carbon molecule of oxaloacetate.
The citric acid cycle is
maintained in a steady state-that is, although materials enter and leave
intermediate compounds are formed as they are metabolized, the concentrations of
molecules in the cycle do not change much.
The energy temporarily stored in
acetyl CoA drives the formation of citrate form oxaloacetate(reaction 1).
Although most of the enzymes of the citric acid cycle are dissolved in the
mitochondrial matrix, there are two exceptions: succinate dehydrogenase, which
catalyzes reaction 6, and ketoglutarate dehyrogenase, which catalyzes reaction
4.
The Respiratory Chain: Electrons, Protons Pumping, and ATP
Without NAD+ and FAD, the oxidative steps of glycosis, pyruvate
oxidation oxidation, and the citric acid cycle could not occur.
The story
has three parts:
A.First, the electrons pass through a series of
membrane-associated electron carriers called the respiratory chain.
B.Second, the flow of electrons along the chain causes the active transport
of protons across the inner mitochondria membrane, out of the matrix, creating a
concentration gradient.
C. Third, the protons diffuses back into the
mitochondrial matrix through a proton channel, which couples this diffusion to
the synthesis of ATP.
THE overall process of ATP synthesis resulting
from electron transport through the respiratory chain is called oxidative
phosphorylation.
The respiratory chain transports electron and
releases energy
The respiratory chain contains three components:
A.Three large protein complexes, containing carrier molecules and their
associated enzymes
B. A small protein called cytochrome c
C. A
nonprotein component called ubiquinone(Q)
The large protein complexes
are bound to the folds of the inner mitochodrial membranes, the cristae, in
eukayotes, or to the plasma membrane of aerobic prokayotes.
Active
proton transport is followed by diffusion coupled to ATP synthesis
As we have seen, all the carriers and enzymes of the respiratory
chain (except cytochrome c) are embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane.
Together, the proton concentration gradient and the charge difference
constitute a source of potential energy called the proton-motive force.This
force tends to drive the protons back across the membrane, just as the charge on
a battery drives the flow of electrons, discharging the battery.
The
conversion of the proton-motive force into kinetic energy is prevented by the
fact that the lipid bilayer of the inner membrane is impermeable to protons.
However, they can diffuse across the membrane by passing through a specific
channel protein, called ATP SYNTHASE, that couples proton movement to the
synthesis of ATP. This coupling of proton-motive and ATP synthesis is called the
chemiosmotic mechanism.
The Chemiosmotic Mechanism Couples Electron
Transport to ATP Synthesis
A. The flow of electrons from NADH(OR FADH2)
from one electron carrier to another in the respiratory chain is a series of
exergonic reactions that occurs in the inner mitochondrial membrane.
B.These
exergonic reactions drive the endergonic pumping of H+out of the mitochondrial
matrix and across the inner membrane into intermembrane space. This pumping
forms a H+ gradient.
C. The potential energy of the H+ gradient, or
proton-motive force, is harnessed by ATP synthase. This protein has two roles:IT
acts as a channel allowing the H+ to diffuse back into the matrix, and it uses
the energy of that diffusion to make ATP from ADP AND Pi:
ATP---ADP + Pi
+ free energy
If the reaction goes to the right, free energy is released
and is used to pump H+ out of the mitochondrial matrix. If the reaction goes to
left, it uses free energy from H+ diffusion into the matrix to make ATP.
Proton Diffusion Can BE UNCOUPLED FROM ATP PRODUCTION
For the chemiosmotic mechanism to work, the diffusion of H+ and the
formation of ATP must be tightly coupled; that is , the protons must through the
ATP synthase channel in order to move inward.
FERMENTATTION: ATP
FROM GLUCOSE, WITHOUT O2
Under anaerobic conditions, many (but not
all)cells can continue to carry out glycolysis and produce a limited amount of
ATP by FERMENTATION. This process occurs in the cytoplasm with glycolysis.
Fermentation has two defining characteristics. First, it uses NADH+H+ formed
by GLYCOLYSIS to reduce pyruvate or one of its metabolites, and consequently
NAD+ is regenerated. Second, fermentation enables glycolysis to produce a small
but sustained amount of ATP;
Some fermentating cells produce lactic
acid and others produce alcohol
Many different types of fermentation are
carried out by different bacteria and eukaryotic body cells. These different
fermentations are distinguished by the final product produced. For example, in
lactic acid fermentation, pyruvate is reduced to lactate.
Certain yeasts and
some plant cells carry on a process called Alcoholic Fermentation under
anaerobic conditions
Contrasting Energy Yields
The total net
energy yield from fermentation is two molecules of ATP per molecules of glucose
oxidized. Fermentation is an incomplete oxidation of glucose. The total gross
yield of ATP from one molecule of glucose taken through glycolysis and cellular
respiration is 38.
Metabolic Pathways
Glycolysis and the
respiratory pathways do not operate in isolation from the rest of metabolism.
Rather, there is an interchang, with biochemical traffic flowing both into these
pathways and out of them, to and from the synthesis and breakdown of amino
acids, nucleotides, fatty acids and so forth.
Catabolism and
Anabolism invovle interconversions using carbon skeletons
Polysaccharide, lipids, and proteins can all be broken down to provide
energy.
A. Polysaccharide are hydrolyzed to glucose phosphate, an
intermediate in glycolysis. This molecule then passes through the rest of
glycolysis and the citric acid cycle,where its energy is extracted in NADH and
ATP.
B. Lipids are converted to their substituents, glycerol and fatty
acids. Glycerol is converted to dihydroxyacetone phosphate, an intermediatein
glycolysis, and fatty acids to acetate and then acetyl CoA in the mitochondria.
In both cases, further oxidation to CO2 and release of energy of energy then
occur.
C. Proteins are hydrolyzed to their amino acid building blocks.
The 20 amino acids feeds into glycosis or the citric acid cycle at different
points.
Catabolism and Anabolism are Integrated
Glucose
is an excellent source of energy. Polysaccharides and fats have no such
catalytic roles. The level of acetylCoA rises as a fatty acids are broken down.
Allostery regulates metabolism
Glycolysis, the citric acid
cycle, and the respiratory chain are regulated by allosteric control of the
enzymes involved. The main control point in glycolysis is the enzyme
PHOFRUCTOKINASE. The main control in the citric acid cycle is the enzyme
ISOCITRATE DEHYROGENASE, which converts isocitrate to ketoglutarate..