Urea Cycle Flashcards
Where does toxic ammonia come from?
The breakdown of amino acids in muscles
What does the enzyme Glutamine synthetase do?
It uses 2 ATP to combine ammonia and glutamate to make Glutamine.
What does the enzyme Glutaminase do?
Cleaves glutamine to make glutamate and ammonia.
What does glutamine do?
Acts as a shuttle to transport ammonia through the blood.
What does Glutamate dehydrogenase do?
Combines ammonia with alpha-ketogluterate to make glutamate.
What does Alanine transaminase do and why?
Converts glutamate and pyruvate into alpha-ketogluterate and alanine. Glutamate cannot travel in the blood, but alanine can.
What does alanine do?
Converted from glutamate and pyruvate to transport imbedded ammonia through the blood to the liver cells.
What does the enzyme alanine transaminase do?
Converts alanine and alpha-ketogluterate back to pyruvate and glutamate in liver cell.
What does the enzyme carbamoyl phosphate synthetase 1 do?
It uses 2 ATP to combine ammonia with carbon monoxide to make carbamoyl phosphate.
What does the enzyme Ornithine transcarbamylase do?
Combines carbamoyl phosphate with ornithine to make citrulline.
What does the enzyme Ornithine translocase do?
Transports citrulline out of the mitochondria and into the cytoplasm of the liver cells.
What does the enzyme Argininosuccinate synthetase 1 do?
It uses 1 ATP to combine citrulline with aspartate to make arginiosuccinate in the cytoplasm.
What does the enzyme Arginiosuccinate lyase do?
It cleaves argininosuccinate into arginine and fumarate.
What does fumarate do?
Fumarate is used to make NADH in the citric acid cycle.
What does the enzyme Arginase do?
It activates hydrolysis in arginine to make urea and ornithine which is transported to the kidneys and mitochondria respectively.
Why is alpha-ketogluterate important?
The alpha-amino group of amino acids protects it from oxidative breakdown, so it must be removed and transferred to alpha-ketogluterate to begin their catabolism
What is transamination?
Funneling amino groups into glutamate
What is the first step in amino acid catabolism?
The transfer of the alpha-amino group from an amino acid to an alpha-ketogluterate by different types of specific aminotransferases, creating glutamate and leaving an alpha-keto acid. (Occurs for all amino acids except for lysine and threonine)
What does aspartate aminotransferase do?
Transfers amino groups from glutamate to oxaloacetate to form aspartate (Glutamate- amino groups ==> amino groups + oxaloacetate ==> aspartate)
What creates aspartate from glutamate amino groups combining with ocaloacetate?
Aspartate aminotransferases
How can you use aminotransferases to diagnose disease?
Aminotransferase enzymes are only found in the outside the cell in low levels, so if lots of them are found in the blood or the urine, then we know that there is cell damage
Why is glutamate important?
- The ammonia combines with glutamate to make glutamine, the non-toxic ammonia carrier.
- Glutamate is a substrate AND a regulator of the rate-limiting step activator N-acetylglutamate
What breaks down glutamate?
The enzyme glutamate dehydrogenase deaminates glutamate to release ammonia and alpha-ketogluterate (which is recycled into the citric acid cycle)
Describe the glucose-alanine pathway
Glycolysis in the muscles produce pyruvate from glucose. Alanine aminotransferase combines ammonia with pyruvate to form alanine which is then sent to the liver. In the liver, the alanine is converted back to pyruvate by alanine aminotransferase, which releases ammonia. The pyruvate continues to glucose production, while the ammonia is loaded into the urea cycle to be made into urea.
Why is urea important
It is a non-toxic molecule that can transport toxic ammonia from the liver, to the kidneys
What medicine can help with hyerammonemia?
Neomycin –> reduce ammonia-producing bacteria
What happens after ingestion of a protein-rich meal?
The concentration of N-acetylglutamate increases
What is the essential activator of the rate-limiting step in the urea cycle?
N-acetylglutamate synthase –> Acetyl-coa + glutamate ==> N-acetylglutamate