Endocrinology Flashcards
What molecule monitors the energy status of a cell?
AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK)
Part of a nutrient/energy sensing system
Activated by a low ATP/AMP ratio
This shuts off energy requiring processes (lipid synthesis) and activates pathways of ATP formation (fatty acid oxidation)
What is the Warburg effect?
Cancer cells are adapted to form ATP anaerobically continuously even when oxygen is available
Inefficient process, they need to use glucose at a very high rate
What do catabolism and anabolism do to ATP levels?
Catabolic processes produce ATP
Anabolic processes consume ATP
What are the different pathways by which Acetyl co A can be formed?
Carbs: sugars -> glucose -> glycolysis to pyruvate -> pyruvate dehydrogenase -> Acetyl co A
Triglycerides: glycerol -> glycolysis to pyruvate. Fatty acids -> beta oxidation to Acetyl co A
Protein: amino acids -> pyruvate, Acetyl co A and citric acid cycle
What are the products of glycolysis?
2 molecules of pyruvate
2 molecules of ATP
2 NADH (high energy electron carrying molecules)
Where does ATP synthesis occur in mitochondria?
ATP synthase is at inner membrane
How is most ATP produced?
In mitochondria via oxidation of NADH (and FADH2)
When oxygen is present and mitochondria is active/present
How is NADH generated?
Glycolysis in cytosol (mechanisms needed to transfer NADH into mitochondria)
Fatty acid oxidation (also FADH2)
Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (citric cycle) (FADH2)
Amino acid utilisation
How does glucose get into cells?
Transported into cells through facilitated diffusion (requires transporters)
GLUT transporters
Which GLUT transporters are insulin sensitive and insensitive?
GLUT4: main insulin sensitive, adipose and skeletal muscle
GLUT1/3: not sensitive, CNS and skeletal muscle
GLUT2: not sensitive, liver and pancreatic beta cells
What are the 3 important regulated steps of glycolysis?
Hexokinase (1st step): glucose to glucose-6-p (uses 1 ATP)
Phosphofructokinase (3rd): fructose-6-p to Fructose-1,6-bP (uses 1 ATP)
Pyruvate kinase (last step): Phosphoenolpyruvate to pyruvate (makes 2 ATP)
What does lactate dehdrogenase do to pyruvate?
Forms lactic acid
What happens during phase 1 and phase 2 of glycolysis?
Phase 1: investment phase, consume 2 molecules ATP
Phase 2: production phase, makes 4 ATP and 2 NADH
What different Hexokinase isoforms are present in tissues?
Isoforms differ in affinity for glucose, depending on cell-type
Tissues with low affinity GLUTs express low affinity Hexokinases
HK1: (high affinity) ubiquitously expressed including brain
HK2: restricted to insulin-sensitive tissues (adipose tissue, skeletal muscle,heart) but is also highly expressed in cancer cells
HK1 and 2 are inhibited by Glucose-6-p
HK4: Glucokinase expressed in liver, low affinity, not inhibited by G6P
What enzyme converts pyruvate into Acetyl co A?
Pyruvate dehydrogenase
What are the mechanisms of transferring reducing power across mitochondrial inner membrane?
Inner membrane of mitochondria is impermeable to NADH Glycerol Phosphate Shuttle: regenerates NAD+ from NADH. Allows NADH synthesised in cytosol by glycolysis to contribute to oxidative phosphorylation via Glycerol-3-P then FADH2
Malate-Aspartate shuttle: translocating electrons across inner membrane of mitochondria for oxidative phosphorylation
Oxoglutarate and aspartate carriers move malate and H across the membrane
Which molecule by product of glycolysis can go on to participate in lipogenesis?
Glycerol-3-p
How do fatty acids get into mitochondria? And then how do they contribute to energy release?
Carnitine shuttle: fatty acid converted to Acyl co A which in turn is converted to acylcarnitine
Carnitine-acylcarnitine carrier moves it into mitochondria
Then converted back to Acyl co A and Carnitine is moved back via carrier out of mitochondria
Acyl co A undergoes beta oxidation to become Acetyl co A and FADH2 and NADH is released in the process
How do fatty acids and glucose inhibit each other’s utilisation?
Acetyl co A as end product Citrate release (first step of TCA cycle) provides negative feedback to utilisation
Describe slow twitch muscle fibres
Oxidative, high capacity for oxidising glucose and fatty acids
Depends on oxygen availability and glycogen store of muscle fibre
Used for regular, long term contraction (postural muscles, running)
Highly vascularised, high mitochondrial content
Can switch to fatty acids as main source of energy especially when glycogen exhausted
Can use ketones during fasting
Describe type 2 fast twitch muscle fibres
Less oxidative, generate enough ATP from glycolysis for short periods
Relies on rapid glycogen breakdown
Used for short bursts of activity (sprinting)
Anaerobic glycolysis produces lactate, lowering intracellular pH (causing cramp)
Can also rely on creatine phosphate breakdown for very short bursts of contraction
Are cardiac and diaphragm muscles slow or fast twitch?
Same as Type-1 fibres
Heart depends 75% of its energy needs on fatty acid oxidation under normal conditions, and an even greater extent in diabetes
Problems during ischaemia – reperfusion
How is AMP produced?
Hydrolysis of ADP: ADP –> AMP + Pi
Hydrolysis of ATP: ATP –> AMP + PPi
Where does the TCA cycle happen?
Matrix of the mitochondria
What is the purpose of the TCA cycle?
Oxidation of Acetyl-CoA as a source of NADH and FADH2 (electron carriers)
What is combined with Acetyl co A to start the TCA cycle?
Oxaloacetate
What are products of the TCA cycle?
3 NADH
FADH2
GTP
2 CO2
What is the electron transport chain?
Energy of electrons from NADH and FADH2 is used to pump protons across the mitochondrial inner membrane across their concentration gradient
What are the sources of NADH for the electron transport chain?
TCA cycle
Fatty acid β-Oxidation
Malate shuttle (glycolysis)
What are the sources of FADH2 for the electron transport chain?
TCA cycle
Fatty acid β-Oxidation
G-3-P shuttle (glycolysis)
How does the electron transport chain lead to ATP production?
Protons pumped out of the mitochondria to form a concentration gradient
Chemiosmosis: ATP synthase re-pumps H+ and allows the synthesis of ATP
How is ATP transported out of the mitochondria?
ATP-ADP carrier
ATP synthase requires 3 protons flowing down concentration gradient to synthesise one ATP molecule, the fourth proton is symported with each ATP out across the i.m. in exchange for one ADP
What is uncoupling?
Proton influx can be uncoupled from ATP synthesis by UCP1 (Uncoupling Protein 1)
Dissipation of the proton gradient results in the release of heat
Where does production of heat resulting in non-shivering thermogenesis occur?
Brown adipose tissue
What is DNP and why does it make you lose weight?
Blocks ATP synthase and increases uncoupling reaction
Results: increased body temperature, resulting in dramatic weight loss
Lack of ATP leading to death
What are amino acids required for?
Synthesis of proteins (structural, catalytic, signalling)
Synthesis of peptides (intra- and inter-cellular communication)
When are amino acids an important source of carbohydrates?
Fasting, trauma, sepsis
What needs to happen to amino acids before they can be used for glucose/lipid synthesis?
Deamination
How are amino acids metabolised?
Series of transamination reactions before urea formation
Branched chain amino acids require branched chain ketoacid dehydrogenase complex to be converted to -CoA derivatives
Dysfunction results in branched chain ketoaciduria (Maple syrup urine disease)
What is the main nitrogen-containing compound that is excreted through the kidneys?
Urea
How is urea formed from amino acid metabolism?
Glutamate + Oxaloacetate -> Aspartate aminotransferase -> aspartate + urea
How is glutamine formed from ammonia?
NH3 + α-Ketoglutarate -> Aminotransferase -> glutamate -> Glutamine
What is anaplerosis?
Replenishing TCA cycle intermediates using amino acids
What is the glucose-alanine cycle?
In muscle, glucose -> pyruvate -> alanine (transaminase enzyme)
Alanine transported to liver
Alanine -> pyruvate -> gluconeogenesis or Acetyl co A
By product is NH3 production which is converted to urea to be excreted
What factors are required for the urea cycle to work? What product feeds back into the TCA cycle?
NH3 and HCO3
Aspartate from TCA cycle
Fumarate formed which goes back into TCA cycle
Which tissues use glucose for fuel?
Most tissues
Obligatory for brain and erythrocytes
Which tissues use fatty acids for fuel?
Most tissues
Minimal in neurons as a source of energy
Which tissues use ketones for fuel?
Not liver (where they are synthesised)
Can be used by most tissues
Important for brain as a partial substitute for glucose when this is less available
Which cells use amino acids as fuel?
Not many cell types
Used (particularly glutamine) in fast-dividing cells e.g. enterocytes and cancer cells
Where can glucose taken up by the gut end up?
Red blood cells Liver Brain Adipose tissue Skeletal/cardiac muscle
Where do triglycerides absorbed from the gut end up?
Transported in chylomicrons to adipose tissue
Broken down by lipoprotein lipase into fatty acids which can be transported to liver or skeletal muscle
Liver breaks them down to ketone bodies which can be used to supply the brain and skeletal muscle
Describe the interaction between glucose and fatty acids when glucose is in excess
Fatty acids can be formed from glucose
Glucose excess can be stored as lipid (triglycerides) but this can only be mobilised/metabolised as fatty acids
Depots of white adipose tissue (internal or subcutaneous) are
specialised for triglycerides storage
Spill over of triglycerides storage into ectopic tissues: muscle
(skeletal and cardiac) and liver has pathological consequences
What type of bond holds 2 monosaccharides together to form a disaccharide?
Glycosidic bond
What are Sucrose, Maltose and Lactose formed from?
Sucrose: glucose + fructose
Maltose: glucose + glucose
Lactose: glucose + galactose
What happens to disaccharides for them to be absorbed?
Disaccharides are soluble in water but do not cross cell membrane by diffusion
Must be broken down in small intestine during digestion: hydrolysis reaction which releases energy
What is glycogen?
Branched polysaccharide with 1-4-alpha-glycosidic linkages in chains and 1-6-glycosidic linkages for branches
Each glycogen granule has a core glycogenin protein
What are roles of lipids?
Energy storage
Components of cell membrane (phospholipids and cholesterol)
Chemical messengers
What is white adipose tissue specialised for?
Store large amounts of triglyceride in lipid droplets
What are triglycerides synthesised from?
Glycerol and Fatty Acids
What is glycerol?
Type of alcohol – contains hydroxyl group (OH)
Glycerol has 3 hydroxyl groups, which will be linked to 3 Fatty Acids