Cellular Energetics (Unit 3) Flashcards
What is a catalyst?
A chemical agent that speeds up reactions without being consumed
What is the structure of an enzyme
Tertiary structure
Can be charged made of polar amino acids (R group)
Endergonic
Endothermic and non spontaneous G>0
Exergonic
Exothermic and spontaneous G<0
What does induced fit mean?
Chemical groups of active site mold to catalyze substrate
How can an active site lower the activation energy?
- Orienting substrate properly
- Straining substrate bonds
- Favorable microenvironment
- Covalently bonding
What is denaturation?
Loss of conformational shape - typically not reversible
What is a prosthetic group?
A permanent non-protein enzyme helper
What is a cofactor?
A temporary non-protein enzyme helper
What is a coenzyme?
A organic non-protein enzyme helper
Describe competitive inhibition
Binding to active site and competing with substrate
Describe non competitive inhibition
Binding to the allosteric site, causing shape change, making active site less effective
What is metabolism?
All the chemical reactions in an organism
What is a catabolic pathway?
Releases energy by BREAKING DOWN complex molecules into simpler compounds
ex Cellular respiration
What is an anabolic pathway?
Consumes energy to BUILD molecules
ex. Dehydration synthesis of amino acids to build a protein
What is bioenergetics?
The stud of how energy flows through living organisms
What is spontaneous process?
Happens without energy input, increases the entropy of the universe
What are paired reactions?
One reaction feeding the energy requirements of another reaction
The entropy of an organism goes down, but the entropy of the universe goes up
Are cells at equilibrium? Why?
No. They are open systems with constant flow of energy and materials
How do cells manage energy resources?
Energy coupling ( use of exergonic reaction to drive an endergonic reaction) - mediated by ATP
How is energy from ATP released?
When the terminal phosphate bond is broken by hydrolysis
How does ATP drive endergonic reactions?
By phosphorylation, transferring a phosphate group to some other molecule (the phosphorylated intermediate)
How does a cell regulate metabolic pathways?
By switching on/off genes that ecode specific enzymes or regulation enzyme activity
What is allosteric regulation?
Occurs when a regulatory molecule binds to a protein at one end, affeting the function at another site (inhibits of stimulates the enzymes activity)
What is cooperactivity?
A form of allosteric regulation that amplifies enzyme activity
What is feedback inhibition?
The end product of a metabolic pathway shutting down the pathway
What happens in light dependant reactions
The chloroplasts trap solar energy and transform the energy to the reducing power of NADPH and the chemical energy of ATP
What happens in light independant reactions?
The energy of ATP and NADPH are used to reduce CO2 to synthesize glucose