Glucose Metabolism and Diabetes Flashcards
What are Anabolic reactions?
Generate complex molecules from smaller substrates
Need energy
Suffix – genesis
What are catabolic reactions?
Break down complex molecules into smaller products
Release energy, which is transferred to ATP molecules
Suffix – lysis
What is catabolism used for?
40% energy released by catabolism is used for cellular functions
Rest is converted to heat which maintains body temp or is lost to environment
What are carbohydrates metabolised to?
Polysaccharide and disaccharide catabolised to monosaccharides: glucose, fructose and galactose
Shortly after absorption (small intestine) fructose and galactose converted to glucose
What is the preferred source of ATP?
Glucose
What happens to glucose if ATP is needed immediately?
Oxidative Phosphorylation of Glucose
What happens to glucose if ATP is not needed immediately?
Converted to glycogen for storage in liver cells & skeletal muscle fibers
If these full then liver converts glucose to triglycerides for storage in adipose tissue. Released when ATP required
What increases rate of facilitated diffusion of glucose?
Insulin
Describe the products of oxidative phosphorylation of glucose
1 glucose + 6O2 = 38 ATP + 6CO2 + 6H2O
What is the final electron acceptor in glucose respiration?
Oxygen
What are the key reactions in cellular respiration of glucose?
Glycolysis
Formation of acetyl CoA
Krebs cycle
Electron transport chain
What are NAD+ and FAD?
Coenzymes: temporary carriers of atoms being removed or added to a substrate during the reaction
NAD+ accepts electrons and H+ ions, becomes reduced and forms NADH+H+, which can be oxidised to donate electrons and H+ ions to electron chain
What is glycolysis?
Glucose –> 2 x pyruvate + 2NADH + 2ATP
What are the 2 pathways of pyruvate?
Anaerobic: Lactate dehydrogenase –> lactate
Aerobic: Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex –> Acetyl coA + CO2
Describe the lactic acid pathway and why it happens
For glycolysis to continue, must be adequate amounts of NAD+ available, NADH has to be oxidised
If oxygen available this happens in the mitochondria and eventually donated to oxygen
If not enough oxygen NADH is oxidised in the cytosol donating
electrons to pyruvate and reduction of pyruvate by H+ forms lactic acid
Reaction is catalysed by lactic acid dehydrogenase
What respiration related factors are required for cells to survive?
As long as they make enough ATP
Lactic acid concentrations don’t rise too high
Which tissues cope best with lactic acid?
Skeletal muscle > cardiac muscle > brain
How do red blood cells undergo respiration?
No mitochondria
Only anaerobic respiration
Spares the oxygen they are carrying
Describe the Formation of Acetyl CoA
Pyruvate enters mitochondria and is converted into 2-carbon fragment acetic acid (+CO2 – removed via blood and respiration)
Acetic acid + coenzyme A –> acetyl coenzyme A
Pyruvate dehydrogenase
Describe the Krebs cycle
Acetyl CoA (2 carbons) combines with oxaloacetic acid (4 carbons) to form citric acid (6 carbons)
Series of reactions citric acid is converted to oxaloacetic acid, join with a new acetylCoA and start again
For each cycle:
1 GTP produced (donates P to ADP to form 1 ATP)
3 NAD+ reduced to NADH
1 FAD is reduced to FADH2
What things other than pyruvic acid can pass into the Krebs cycle?
Amino acids
Ketone bodies
Fatty acids
Describe the electron transport chain
NADH and FADH2 oxidised by transferring electrons to ETC
Free energy released during oxidation of NADH or FADH2 molecule by O2 sufficient to drive synthesis of ATP from ADP and Pi
Mitochondria maximise production of ATP by transferring electrons from NADH and FADH2 through series of electron carriers all but one of which are integral components of inner membrane
Step-by-step transfer of electrons allows free energy in NADH and FADH2 to be released in small increments
Oxidised forms (NAD+ and FAD) are regenerated and continue to shuttle electrons from Krebs cycle to electron chain
What is oxidation?
Loss of electrons from an atom or molecule as occurs when hydrogen is removed from the molecule or oxygen is added