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Introduction to Metabolism - General Biology

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  • What is metabolism?

    Metabolism is the totality of an organism’s chemical reactions, arising from orderly molecular interactions.

  • What are metabolic pathways?

    Metabolic pathways alter specific molecules in a series of steps, each catalyzed by a specific enzyme to produce a product.

  • Difference between catabolic and anabolic pathways

    Catabolic pathways release energy by breaking down complex molecules; anabolic pathways consume energy to build complex molecules.

  • What is bioenergetics?

    Bioenergetics is the study of how energy flows through living organisms.

  • Define kinetic and potential energy in biological context

    Kinetic energy is energy of motion; potential energy is energy due to position or structure, such as chemical energy in bonds.

  • What is chemical energy?

    Chemical energy is potential energy available for release in a chemical reaction, stored in molecules like glucose.

  • First law of thermodynamics

    Energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transferred or transformed; total energy of the universe is constant.

  • Second law of thermodynamics

    Every energy transfer increases the entropy (disorder) of the universe.

  • What is entropy?

    Entropy is a measure of molecular disorder or randomness.

  • What is Gibbs free energy (G)?

    Gibbs free energy is the portion of a system’s energy that can do work at constant temperature and pressure.

  • Formula for change in free energy

    ΔG = ΔH – TΔS, where ΔG is free energy change, ΔH is enthalpy change, T is temperature in Kelvin, and ΔS is entropy change.

  • What does a negative ΔG indicate?

    A negative ΔG means the reaction is spontaneous and releases free energy, making the system more stable.

  • Difference between exergonic and endergonic reactions

    Exergonic reactions release free energy (ΔG < 0); endergonic reactions absorb free energy (ΔG > 0).

  • Why do cells never reach metabolic equilibrium?

    Cells are open systems with constant material flow, preventing equilibrium and allowing continuous work.

  • Three main kinds of cellular work

    Chemical work (endergonic reactions), transport work (pumping substances), and mechanical work (movement like muscle contraction).

  • Role of ATP in cellular work

    ATP couples exergonic reactions to endergonic ones, providing energy by hydrolysis of its terminal phosphate bond.

  • Structure of ATP

    ATP consists of ribose sugar, adenine base, and three phosphate groups linked in a triphosphate tail.

  • What happens during ATP hydrolysis?

    ATP loses a phosphate group, releasing energy and forming ADP and inorganic phosphate.

  • How do enzymes speed up reactions?

    Enzymes lower the activation energy (EA) barrier, allowing reactions to proceed faster without changing ΔG.

  • What is the activation energy (EA)?

    EA is the initial energy needed to contort reactants into a transition state to start a reaction.

  • What is enzyme specificity?

    Enzymes bind specific substrates at their active site due to complementary shapes, enabling selective catalysis.

  • What is induced fit in enzyme action?

    Substrate binding causes the enzyme to change shape, tightening around the substrate to enhance catalysis.

  • Factors affecting enzyme activity

    Temperature, pH, substrate concentration, and presence of cofactors or inhibitors affect enzyme function.

  • Difference between competitive and noncompetitive inhibitors

    Competitive inhibitors bind active site blocking substrate; noncompetitive bind elsewhere causing shape change.

  • What is allosteric regulation?

    Regulatory molecules bind to sites other than the active site, altering enzyme activity positively or negatively.

  • What is cooperativity in enzymes?

    Binding of substrate to one active site stabilizes active form of other sites, amplifying enzyme activity.

  • What is feedback inhibition?

    The end product of a metabolic pathway inhibits an earlier enzyme to prevent overproduction.

  • How does compartmentalization affect metabolism?

    Enzymes localized in specific organelles or complexes organize metabolic pathways efficiently.