metabolism

Question 1

What are metabolites?

Answer 1

they are the thousands of organic compounds in living organisms and they present in a certain concentration.

or

a metabolite is an intermediate or end product of metabolism

Question 2

what is metabolism?

Answer 2

all biomolecules have turn over which means that they are constantly changed through breaking or making reactions. and the sum of all these reactions is metabolism.

Question 3

what are metabolic pathways?

Answer 3

metabolites are converted into each other in series of linked reactions, this reaction is either linear or circular they cross each other, called metabolic pathways.

Question 4

what is the dynamic state of body constituents?

Answer 4

it is the flow of metabolites through metabolic pathways which has a rate and direction.

Question 5

what are enzymes?

Answer 5

all metabolic reactions are catalyzed reactions. enzymes are proteins that act as biocatalysts and accelerates metabolic reactions.

eg:L co2 + h20 in the prescense of carbonic anhydrase (enzyme) gives h2co3 (carbonic acids)

thus enzymes mediate all reactions in a living system.

Question 6

explain anabolic pathways.

Answer 6

they are build up reactions which involve orderly syntheses of substances by addition of simple compound. This pathway consumes energy

eg1: formation of protein from amino acids.
eg2: conversion of acetic acid to cholesterol in liver

Question 7

explain catabolic pathways.

Answer 7

these pathways orderly breakdown large or complex products to simpler ones. They release energy.

eg1: conversion of glucose(6C) to lactic acid(3C)
eg2: conversion of glucose into pyruvate, this takes 10 metabolic steps it is called glycolysis.
eg3: during vigorous muscle contraction due to lack of oxygen, pyruvate is converted into lactic acid(converted CoA further breaks down into h2o and co2)

Question 8

explain ATP?

Answer 8

• universal energy currency
• the energy currency of the cell
• adenine with ribose(pentose) and a row of 3 phosphates attached o the ribose
• produced during cellular respiration
• the second and third posphate are attached by high energy bond.

Question 9

concentration of glucose in blood?

Answer 9

4.5 - 5mM in blood
#hormones are present in nanograms/ml

Question 10

explain metabolic flux

Answer 10

• all organism is present in a steady-state which is a non-equilibrium in which all biomolecules is present a certain concentration
• these biomolecules are in metabolic flux
• metabolic flux is the rate of turnover of molecules through a metabolic pathway and the flux is regulated by the hormones with the cell
• any chemical processes reach equilibrium but at equilibrium, no work is done, therefore living organisms cannot afford to be at equilibrium as they work continuously
• living organisms use energy from metabolism to prevent reaching equilibrium, thus metabolism and living state are synonyms and without metabolism, there cannot be a living state.

Question 11

what is the living state?

Answer 11

non-equilibrium I steady-state that is able to work