Mitochondria and CAC Flashcards
What are the three main function of the citric acid cycle?
- produce NADH and FADH2
- produce organic intermediates used in biosynthesis
- eliminate surplus organic compounds as CO2
is the citric acid cycle aerobic or anaerobic?
aerobic but doesn’t consume O2 directly
does the citric acid cycle generate energy?
the energy generated is stored in form of high energy electrons in NADH and FADH2
what CAC intermediate does the CO2 come from?
acetyl-CoA and oxaloacetate
what are the high energy intermediates of the CAC?
succinyl-CoA (generates GTP), and acetyl-CoA (generates C-C bond)
what confers the directionality of the CAC?
the three irreversible steps
what is the relative concentrations of malate to oxaloacetate?
much more malate than oxaloacetate
What is the deltaG of the malate dehydrogenase reaction? How does it move forward?
It is positive, making it endergonic but since the next reaction is highly exergonic, once coupled with this reaction, the free energy becomes about 0
How much ATP can be produced per glucose?
20 per glucose (so 10 per acetyl-CoA)
What are the mechanisms by which the CAC is regulated?
- substrate availability
- product inhibition
- competitive feedback inhibition
- allosteric activation
- allosteric inhibition
How is citrate synthase regulated?
- substrate availability (of acetyl CoA and oxaloacetate): in vivo these do not saturate the enzyme and acetyl-CoA is controlled by PDC
- product inhibition: citrate, which is a competitive inhibitor of oxaloacetate
- competitive feedback: succinyl-CoA competes with acetyl-CoA
- allosteric inhibition: NADH
- allosteric activation: ADP
How is isocitrate dehydrogenase regulated?
- product inhibition: NADH, which displaces NAD+
- allosteric activation: ADP and Ca++
- when the enzyme is off, citrate and isocitrate is in equilibrium and citrate goes into the citoplasm
- citrate in the cytoplasm activates fatty acid synthesis and inhibits PFK which inhibits glycolysis
How is alpha-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase regulated?
- product inhibition: NADH and succinyl-CoA
- allosteric activation: Ca++
What is the role of pyruvate carboxylase and how does it fit it the CAC regulation?
- it converts pyruvate to oxaloacetate
- accumulation of acetyl-CoA indicates that there is a need of oxaloacetate to restart the CAC
What is amphibolic?
anabolism and catabolism
are the CAC intermediates at the start or end of anabolic and catabolic reactions?
- anabolic: start
- catabolic: end
What do cataplerotic reactions do to the CAC?
deplete the CAC intermediates (used for anabolism)
what do anaplerotic reactions do to the CAC?
replenish the depleted CAC intermediates (used for catabolism)
What are the different Cataplerotic reactions?
- fatty acid biosynthesis (ATP citrate lyase)
- amino acid biosynthesis (glutamate dehydrogenase)
- glucose biosynthesis (PEPCK)
what are the different anaplerotic reaction?
- oxaloacetate production (pyruvate carboxylase)
what is an amphiplerotic reaction?
a reaction that can either be cataplerotic or anaplerotic
what are the different amphiplerotic reactions?
- amino acid synthesis or breakdown (glutamate transaminase and alanine/aspartate transaminase)
- supplies malate/makes pyruvate + NADH (malic enzyme)