Metabolism & Energy
Metabolism
● Metabolism - the totality of an organism's
chemical reactions
● Enzymes catalyze the steps of a metabolic
pathway
● Catabolism: break down complex
molecules into simpler molecules; releases
energy; delta G is negative; exergonic
● Anabolism: build complex molecules from
simpler ones; requires energy; delta G is
positive; endergonic
● Energy Coupling - using an exergonic
process to drive an endergonic one
Energy
● The ability to do work; exists in many
forms
○ Kinetic, heat, light, etc
● Laws of Thermodynamics:
○ 1. Energy cannot be created or destroyed
○ 2. Entropy is always increasing
● Cells can convert Energy from One
Form to Another
○ Photosynthesis (Light energy → chemical
energy)
Free Energy
● Energy available to do work; Symbol is ΔG
● ΔG can be used to tell if a reaction is
spontaneous or not
● Exergonic: system releases free energy (-
delta G); spontaneous
● Endergonic: system absorbs free energy
(+delta G); nonspontaneous
● Equilibrium - forward and reverse reactions
are happening at the same rate
○ ΔG = 0 = dead
Types of Work and Energy Coupling
● Types of Work
○ Chemical - making things needed by the
cell
○ Transport - moving things across the
membrane
○ Mechanical - moving the actual cell
around the environment
● Energy Coupling - Using an
exergonic process (ex: hydrolysis of
ATP) to drive an endergonic process
(ex: building of a polymer)
○ Most processes are driven by ATP!
Activation Energy
● Activation
Energy: energy
needed to start a
reaction; makes
bonds unstable and
ready to be broken
Enzymes
● Catalyst: increases the rate of a
reaction without being
changed/consumed by the
reaction
● Enzymes:
○ Biological catalysts that are proteins
○ Increase rate of reaction by lowering
the activation energy
○ DO NOT ALTER DELTA G; free energy
stays the same
● Substrate: reactant that an
enzyme acts on
How Enzymes Lower Activation Energy
● Bringing the correct molecules together
● Substrate orientation
● Creating the right environment
● Stretching and exposing bonds to be cut
Enzymes
● Substrate: reactant that an
enzyme acts on
● Active Site: site on the enzyme
that the substrate is interacting
with; small pocket or groove
● Allosteric Site: site other than
the active site which other
molecules can bind to
Enzyme Inhibitors: Competiti
ve
● Enzyme inhibitors: non-substrate
molecules that bind to an enzyme
and decrease its activity
● Competitive Inhibition: inhibitors
bind to the active site, block access
for the normal substrate and
slow/stop the reaction
Enzyme Inhibitors
● Noncompetitive
Inhibition: inhibitors
bind at another location
other than the active
site
○ Reduce ability of the
active site to bind
substrate
Allosteric regulation
● Reversible binding of regulatory
molecule to the allosteric site
● Allosteric activator- induces high
affinity state, increases enzyme
activity
● Allosteric inhibitor- induces low
affinity state, decreases enzyme
activity
Allosteric Inhibition, Cont’d
● Feedback inhibition: the product of one enzymatic pathway inhibits
the reaction that produces it; amount of product controls the rate of
production
Factors that Affect Enzyme Function
● How to activate an enzyme:
○ Phosphorylation or Dephosphorylation
○ Optimal conditions (pH, temp, etc.)
○ Allosteric activation
● How to inhibit an enzyme:
○ Phosphorylation or Dephosphorylation
○ Sub-optimal conditions (pH, temp, etc)
○ Competitive inhibition
○ Non-competitive inhibition/allosteric inhibition
○ Feedback inhibition
● Enzymes are proteins (pH, temperature; anything too extreme will
denature)
