Chapter 6
An Introduction to Metabolism
Objectives
After reading this chapter and attending
lecture, the student should be able to:
- Explain
the role of catabolic and anabolic pathways in the energy exchanges of
cellular metabolism.
- Distinguish
between kinetic and potential energy.
- Distinguish
between open and closed systems.
- Explain,
in other words, the First and second Laws of Thermodynamics.
- Explain
why highly ordered living organisms do not violate the Second Law of
Thermodynamics.
- Distinguish
between entropy and enthalpy.
- Write
the Gibbs equation for free energy change.
- Explain
how changes in enthalpy, entropy and temperature influence the maximum
amount of useable energy that can be harvested from a reaction.
- Explain
the usefulness of free energy.
- List
two major facts capable of driving spontaneous processes.
- Distinguish
between equilibrium and free energy change for a reaction.
- Describe
the function of ATP in the cell.
- List
the three components of ATP and identify the major class of macromolecules
to which it belongs.
- Explain
how ATP performs cellular work.
- Explain
why chemical disequilibrium is essential for life.
- Describe
the energy profile of a chemical reaction including activation energy
(Ea), free energy chance (ΔG) and transition state.
- Describe
the function of enzymes in biological systems.
- Explain
the relationships between enzymes in biological systems.
- Explain
the relation ship between enzyme structure and enzyme specificity.
- Explain
the induced fit model of enzyme function and describe the catalytic cycle
of an enzyme.
- Describe
several mechanism s by which enzymes lower activation energy.
- Explain
how substrate concentration affects the rate of an enzyme-controlled
reaction.
- Explain
how enzyme activity can be regulated or controlled by environmental
conditions, cofactors, enzyme inhibitors and allosteric regulators.
- Distinguish
between allosteric activation and cooperativity.
- Explain
how metabolic pathways are regulated.