Chapter 6: Energy and Metabolism Flashcards

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1
Q

Thermodynamics

A

branch of chemistry concerned with energy changes

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2
Q

Energy

A

the capacity to do work

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3
Q

Kinetic energy

A

energy of motion

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4
Q

Potential energy

A

stored energy

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5
Q

What is the most convenient way of measuring energy?

A

heat energy

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6
Q

One calorie

A

the heat required to raise the temperature of one gram of water 1 degree C

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7
Q

Does breaking bonds between atoms require or release energy?

A

require energy

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8
Q

Oxidation

A

when an atom or molecule loses an electron

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9
Q

Reduction

A

when an atom or molecule gains an electron; more energy than oxidized form

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10
Q

First Law of Thermodynamics

A
  • energy cannot be made or destroyed
  • energy can change from one form to another
  • the total amount of energy in the universe is constant
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11
Q

What happens to some of the energy when it is converted

A

it leaves as heat (random motion of molecules)

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12
Q

Where do organisms acquire energy from to carry out cellular work?

A
  • the sun
  • chemical bonds
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13
Q

Work

A

anything that requires atoms to be moved around by cellular reaction

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14
Q

Gibbs Free Energy

A

a measurement of the amount of “useful” energy that a system can use for doing work

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15
Q

Where does most of the biological source of energy come from at a cellular level?

A

rearranging of atoms from higher energy compounds to lower energy compounds

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16
Q

Formula for change in free energy

A

Δ G = ΔH -TΔS
G = free energy
H = Enthalpy (energy stored in a substance)
T = Temperature
S = Entropy

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17
Q

Exergonic reactions

A
  • release of energy (matter converted from higher energy arrangements to lower energy arrangements)
  • happens spontaneously
  • change in free energy is negative
  • more free energy
  • less stable
  • greater work capacity
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18
Q

Example of exergonic reaction

A

Cellular respiration
- glucose is being broken down to make ATP
- energy is being released
C6H12O6 + O2 –> 36ATP + CO2 + H2O

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19
Q

Endergonic reactions

A
  • require the input of energy to occur (matter is converted from lower energy arrangements to higher energy arrangements)
  • does NOT occur spontaneously
  • change in free energy is positive
  • less free energy
  • more stable
  • less work capacity
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20
Q

Example of endergonic reaction

A

Photosynthesis
ATP + CO2 + H2O –> C6H12O6 + O2

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21
Q

How do biological systems use exergonic reactions?

A
  • provide the free energy needed to undergo endergonic reactions
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22
Q

Second Law of Thermodynamics

A
  • any closed system will tend toward a state of maximum entropy (randomness)
  • parts of the universe can still function as an “open” system
  • energy can be used to decrease entropy
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23
Q

How is life highly ordered?

A
  • organisms use the energy they convert to power cellular processes that can decrease or delay overall entropy
  • increases entropy of surroundings
  • organism uses energy input to maintain/increase order
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24
Q

Closed systems

A
  • inexorably tend toward an absence of free energy
  • they reach at a state of equilibrium between input and outputs
  • inevitably dull
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25
Q

Open systems

A
  • will not reach equilibrium as long as the processes of the system receive inputs and produce outputs
  • usually inputs
  • life is an open system
  • no limit to complexity of open system
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26
Q

When does an organism reach equilibrium?

A

when it is dead

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27
Q

Cellular Energy Theory: ATP

A
  • the short term energy storage/release molecule of choice in cells
  • tens of millions are made and used per second
  • the bonds between phosphate groups in nucleotide triphosphates (like ATP) are relatively unstable
  • more free energy is released when bonds between them are broken than is required by the cell to initiate their cleavage
28
Q

What is ATP responsible for?

A
  • making sugars
  • supplying activation energy for chemical reactions
  • actively transporting substances across membranes
  • building block for RNA molecules
29
Q

How does ATP hydrolysis drive endergonic reactions?

A
  • cells use exergonic reactions to provide the energy needed to synthesize ATP from ADP + Pi–> the hydrolysis of ATP (exergonic) provides energy for endergonic reactions, like muscle contraction, to occur
30
Q

How are endergonic cellular reactions driven?

A
  • coupling to the exergonic hydrolysis of two terminal phosphates –> the bonds holding the terminal phosphates together are easily broken to release energy
31
Q

Cellular proteins

A
  • assist in the cellular energy theory process of breaking bonds of ATP
  • much of the work done by cellular proteins is mediated by the addition and removal of phosphate groups from ATP by proteins to other proteins (kinases and phosphates; enzymes)
32
Q

Metabolism

A

the sum total of all chemical reactions that take place in an organism

33
Q

How is the synthesis of ATP from ADP and phosphate groups powered?

A

by energy from catabolic reactions (respiration)

34
Q

What powers anabolic reactions that require chemical energy?

A

ATP and other nucleotide triphosphates

35
Q

Catbolism

A
  • reactions that make energy by breaking down molecules
  • exergonic, energy-releasing processes
36
Q

Anabolism

A
  • reactions that expend energy to build up molecules
  • endergonic, energy-consuming processes
37
Q

Reaction coupling

A
  • linking an exergonic process with a cellular process
  • if an endergonic process requires less free energy than an exergonic process produces, coupling those two reactions allows for maximum efficiency and an overall negative delta G
38
Q

The Reaction Profile/graph

A
  • all reactions need an input of energy (activation energy) to make the breaking of current chemical bonds energetically favorable (the transition state)
  • the relationship between the energy of the products and the energy of the reactants is what determines if a reaction is endergonic or exergonic
39
Q

Catalysts

A
  • any substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction while not participating in the reaction
  • lowers activation energy of the reaction
  • reusable
40
Q

Enzymes

A
  • biological catalysts
  • proteins and some RNA molecules
  • “ase” is a common suffix for enzymes
  • prefix usually refers to the substrate
41
Q

How do enzymes work?

A
  • interact with reactants (substrates)
  • cause breaking/formation of particular atomic bonds to be more energetically favorable
  • this work is localized to an area of the enzyme called the active site
42
Q

Induced fit

A
  • the shape of the active site of an enzyme is a specific shape for a specific substrate
  • binding of substrate to active site induces conformational change of enzyme to catalyze the reaction
43
Q

Active site

A

clefts or pockets on an enzymes surface where the substrate binds to and the reaction is carried out –> forms enzyme-substrate complex

44
Q

Examples of enzymes

A
  • topoisomerase: minimizes mechanical stress on DNA during replication
  • rubisco: attaches carbon dioxide to sugar precursor molecules in photosynthesis
  • 50% of all protein found in a chloroplast
45
Q

Co-factors

A
  • most enzymes need accessory compounds like vitamins or metal ions (minerals) in order to function
46
Q

Co-enzyme

A
  • nonprotein organic molecule
  • vitamins
  • modified nucleotides
47
Q

Enzyme regulation

A

can be stimulated or inhibited by factors in the cell

48
Q

Competitive Interactions

A

a molecule other than the substrate binds to the active site

49
Q

Non-competitive Interactions

A
  • regulation is accomplished without occupying the active site
  • noncompetitive inhibitors bind to enzyme in a place other than active site, change the enzyme shape, which stops the substrate from binding
50
Q

Allosteric Site

A
  • chemical on/off switches
  • binding of substrate to this site can switch an enzyme between its active and inactive configuration
51
Q

Allosteric Interactions

A
  • other site
  • stimulate or inhibit enzyme activity by causing a conformational change in the enzyme
52
Q

Allosteric inhibitor

A

a substance that binds to allosteric sites and reduces enzyme activity

53
Q

Allosteric activator

A

a substance that binds to allosteric sites to keep enzymes in their active configuration and increases enzyme activity

54
Q

Cooperativity

A
  • binding of a substrate molecule to an active subunit of an enzyme can trigger the stabilization of the active conformation in all subunits
55
Q

Activation

A
  • binding of an active molecule can stabilize an enzyme in an active conformation
56
Q

Inhibition

A
  • binding of an inhibitor molecule can stabilize the enzyme in an inactive conformation
57
Q

Compartmentalization

A

localization of specific enzymes (and the reactions they mediate) within compartments of the cell allow for more control over where/when certain metabolic reactions occur in eukaryotes

58
Q

Effect of temperature on enzyme activity

A
  • increases until optimal temperature, usually around body/environment temp
59
Q

Optimal temperature of a typical human enzyme

A

37 degrees Celsius

60
Q

Optimal temperature of a thermophilic (heat tolerant) bacteria

A

77 degrees Celsius

61
Q

Effect of pH on enzyme activity

A

usually optimal around 6-8

62
Q

Optimal pH for pepsin (stomach enzyme)

A

2

63
Q

Optimal pH for trypsin (intestinal enzyme)

A

8

64
Q

Effect of substrate concentration on enzyme activity

A
  • as substrate concentration increases, so does the enzyme activity until it hits a saturation point, where there are more substrates than enzymes available to bind to
65
Q

Feedback (inhibition)

A
  • many metabolites have regulatory effects on enzymes that catalyze the metabolic pathways that result in the product of those metabolites
  • the end-product of the pathway binds to an allosteric site on the enzyme that catalyzes the first reaction in the pathway