Carbohydrate respiration Flashcards
What are the three ways that we can process energy?
Heterotrophy- when an organism ingests or absorbs organic carbon to produce energy and synthesis compounds to maintain life
Autotrophy- When complex organic compounds are produced from simple substrates using light or inorganic chemical reactions
Phototrophy- photon capture to acquire energy- energy from light to carry out cellular metabolic processes
What are monosaccharides?
Simple sugars containing 3-7 carbons and an aldehyde or ketone functional group, e.g. glucose, ribose, galactose
What are Disaccharides?
A class of sugars whose molecules control two monosaccharides residues e.g. sucrose
What are oligosaccharides?
a carbohydrate whose molecules are composed of a relatively small number of monosaccharide units
Polysaccharides
High Mr polymers of many monosaccharides e.g. glycogen, starch, cellulose
What type of bond join two monosaccharides?
Glycosidic
What is the most common building block of polysaccharides?
D-glucose
What are the names of polysaccharides composed of single and many types of building blocks?
Homopolymers
Heteropolymers
What is the Mr of cellulose?
50,000
What is cellulose?
It is an unbranched polymer of glucose molecules connected by B1-4 links.
What is the structure of cellulose?
- The B configuration allows cellulose to from very long straight chains.
- Fibrils are formed by parallel chains that interacts with one another through hydrogen bonds
- Because of β-1,4 links, alternating residues flipped through 180° relative to each other
- H-bonds stabilise this, giving a linear secondary structure
- Polymer chains have a high affinity for each other and form parallel bundles
- The straight chain formed by β linkages is optimal for the construction of fibers having a high tensile strength
What is the function of cellulose?
Structural polymer
What are the main polysaccharides used in the storage of chemical energy?
- Starch (plants)
- Glycogen (animals)
What is the structure of starch and glycogen?
-Both starch and glycogen are homopolymers of α-1-4 linked glucose with occasional α-1-6 branch points
-The α-1,4 linkages in glycogen and starch produce a very different molecular architecture from that of cellulose - the resulting open helix is well suited to forming an accessible store of sugar
• Glycogen has chains of 8-12 units long each with branches every 8-10 units, 2 branches per chain
• Starch has branched and unbranched forms. The branched forms have chains of 20-25 units with branches every 12-25 units
• Starch has longer chains than glycogen but fewer ends
Where is glycogen stored?
Glycogen is found in the cytosol as dense granules which contain glycogen and the enzymes involved in both its synthesis and mobilization
How do glycosidic bonds determine polysaccharide structure?
Beta linkages have bonds between groups above and below the ring -> straight chain
-a linkages have bonds between groups on one side of the ring -> chain curves
What causes a hollow helix instead of a straight chain?
The a1-4 linkages
Why is branching important in glycogen?
• Branched structure gives lots of non-reducing ends for fast breakdown and synthesis
What polysaccharides are used for recognition and signalling?
-Chondroitin sulfate, heparin, hyaluronate
Where are glycosaminoglycans found and is its function?
It is present on the animal cell surface and in the extracellular matrix.
They are involved in a variety of extracellular and intracellular functions
What are glycosaminoglycans made of?
-Disaccharide repeating units containing a derivative of an amino sugar, either glucosamine or galactosamine; at least one of the sugars in the repeating unit has a negatively charged carboxylate or sulfate group.
What are glycosaminoglycans attached too and what does this form?
What are their functions?
-Glycosaminoglycans are usually attached to proteins to form proteoglycans
-Proteoglycans function as lubricants and structural components in connective
tissue, mediate adhesion of cells to the extracellular matrix, and bind factors that stimulate cell proliferaiton
-Heparin contains the highest net negative charge of the disaccharides and acts as a natural anticoagulant substance
Where is glycogen made and broken down?
The liver and muscle
What are the biosynthesis and catabolic pathways of glycogen?
Synthesis (glycogenesis:
Glycogen +UDP-glucose –> glycogen (n+1) +UDP )
Degradation (glycogenolysis):
Glycogen +Pi -> Glycogen (n+1) + glucose 1- phosphate
What two enzymes convert glycogen to G1P?
debranching enzyme and glycogen phosphorylase
What enzyme converts G1P to G6P?
Phosphoglucomutase
What enzymes convert G1P too UDP-glucose? (glycogen synthesis)
UDP glucose pyrophosphorylase
What converts UDP-glucose to glycogen? (glycogen synthesis)
Glycogen synthase removed the UDP and branching enzyme
What does glycogen branching enzyme do?
Transfers glucose units. It transerd a 7 glucose unit from the end of a chain to a C6-OH group of a glucose residue on the same or another glycogen chain. Each transferred segment must come from a chain of at least 11 units; the new brach must be at least 4 units away from any other branch point
What does deficiency of glycogen branching enzyme cause? and what are the disease characteristics?
It causes glycogen storage disease type IV, a rare autosomal recessive disorder of the glycogen synthesis. This disease is characterized by the accumulation of amylopectin like polysaccharides in almost all tissues.
What are the 4 steps to glycogen degradation?
1- phosphorylase
2-glycogen debranching enzyme
3-Phosphorylase
4-phosphoglucose mutase
what is particular about step 2 of degradation?
-As glycogen phosphorylase will only cleave glucose units more than 5 from a branch point, branch points need to be removed
-Glycogen debranching enzyme is an α(1,4) transglycosidase which transfers an α(1,4) trisaccharide unit from a limit
branch to the non-reducing end of a new branch.
What is particular about step 3 of degradation?
- The remaining glucose unit can be hydrolysed by the same enzyme to yield glucose
- Phosphorylase is quick; debranching slow
What is particular about step 4 of degradation?
Phosphorylase generates G1P units which are converted to G6P by this enzyme
• Major difference between this and the phosphoglycerate mutase of glycolysis is that this enzyme uses a Ser-P rather than a His-P
What are the fates of glycogen degradation products?
Glucose 6-phosphate is either converted to fructose 6 phosphate and undergoes glycolysis to produce ATP, CO2 and H2O in the muscle. Ot is might be converted to glucose and exported to the blood in the liver
How is glycogen breakdown controlled?
By active and inactive forms of phosphorylase
What is Pompes disease?
A defect in acid α glucosidase in lysosomes, which acts on α1-4 glycosidic bonds, i.e. blocks conversion of glycogen à glucose
• Glycogen builds up in lysosomes, resulting in low [glucose]
• Causes progressive muscle weakness, and trouble breathing
What is Coris disease?
- An autosomal recessive metabolic disorder and inborn error of metabolism
- A deficiency in debranching enzyme resulting in excess glycogen and low glucose
What is McArdles disease?
Deficiency in glycogen phosphorylase in skeletal muscle (myophosphorylase)
• The onset of this disease is usually noticed in childhood
• Symptoms include exercise intolerance with muscle pain, early fatigue, painful cramps
• Low glycogen levels à low glucose-1-P
What is the importance of glycogen metabolism?
-Regulates blood glucose concentration
• Provides a reservoir of glucose for muscle activity
• Illustrates an important concept:
Synthesis and degradation of biopolymers involve different pathways
• Mechanism of hormonal regulation of glycogen metabolism is characteristic of such processes
What hormones regulate glycogen synthesis and degradation?
adrenaline and insulin
What regulates glucose uptake by cells?
- glucose outside»_space; glucose inside
- Glucose requires a transporter protein
- Different transporters in different tissues, named GLUT-1 to GLUT-5
- Reversible exchange - diffusion direction dependent on concentration gradient
What is GLUT 4 regulated by?
Insulin
• Insulin increases the number of GLUT-4 molecules in the membrane = increased glucose uptake
What is the first step of glucose metabolism?
Glucose–> glucose 6 phosphate catalysed by hexokinase
What is the first step of glucose metabolism? and what is its function?
Glucose–> glucose 6 phosphate catalysed by hexokinase
Iis function is too maintain the conc. in the cell as this steps turns it into something that cannot move out of the cell and therefore is used in metabolism.
What are the characteristics of the first step of glucose metabolism?
- Uses 1 ATP to phosphorylate the carbonyl group on carbon 6
- Essentially an irreversible reaction,with a high affinity for glucose
- Hexokinase is negatively regulated (inhibited by G6P)
- Helps control which tissues have access to glucose
- Commits the glucose to use by this cell in peripheral tissues, but not to a specific use
What is the overview of glycolysis?
•Splits a 6C sugar into 2 x 3C sugars (glycolysis)
– needs a carbonyl group at carbon 2 (i.e. fructose)
• Oxidises the 3C sugars to pyruvate
– needs an oxidising agent (NAD+)
– needs an electron sink -either O2 (aerobically) or lactate (anaerobically)
• Captures the energy by converting ADP to ATP
– needs to add phosphate to the sugars
- Requires 10 enzymes, 11 compounds needed for glycolysis, starting from glucose, all located in the cytosol
- We split one glucose into 2x pyruvate over 10 steps
- Mg is a cofactor meaning that if there is not enough this process stops
where does the first step of glucose metabolism occur?
In the cytosol and therefore there is no compartmentalisation
What are the three main control point?
1- hexokinase glucose +ATP -> glucose 6 phosphate +ADP
2-Phosphofructokinase-1-fructose-6-phosphate +ATP -> fructose 1-6-bisphosphate
3-Pyruvate kinase phosphoenolpyruvate +ADP -> pyruvate +ATP