CELL NUTRITION

DR. FRANCIS VERIEGH

DEPT. OF BASIC & APPLIED BIOLOGY
UENR-SUNYANI
 GENERAL OVERVIEW
 In order to grow, divide and carry out
their daily activities, living things
(animals and plants) need a constant
supply of energy.
 This energy is acquired from food which
serve as fuel for cells.
 NUTRITION

 Nutrition: Involves both biochemical and physiological processes.

 Its includes ingestion, digestion, absorption and assimilation,
biosynthesis, catabolism and excretion.
 Nutrition releases 7 major nutrients in food
 Carbohydrates
 ???????
 NUTRIENTS

 Nutrients can be grouped into two broad categories: micronutrients and macronutrients
 Micronutrients: nutrients required in minute quantities
 Water, vitamins, minerals, essential fatty acids, fiber, and some amino acids.
 Macronutrients: nutrients required in larger quantities and are the fuel for energy for the body.
 Carbohydrates
 Proteins
 Fats
 Living things (animals and plants) need both
micronutrients and macronutrients to function
properly.
 These include water, vitamins, minerals, essential
fatty acids, fiber, and some amino acids.
 These micronutrients basically act as catalysts
that convert food into energy.
 Water is needed for hydration.
 Fats are needed for various functions including
brain health.
 Amino acids are the building blocks of protein
and they are essential for growth and repair of
tissues. They aid in increasing the body’s
HOW DO CELLS
OBTAIN ENERGY
FROM FOOD?
 Cells harvest energy from the chemical energy
stored in food through cellular respiration (of
sugars).
 These sugars are broken down to produce
CO2 , H2O, ATP and NADH.
 Energy released from these reactions are
captured in the form of ATP and NADH.
 ATP and NADH serve as sources of electrons
needed for biosynthesis.
 BREAKDOWN OF
MACROMOLECULES
 Carbohydrates, proteins and fats must be broken
down into smaller units before the cells can use them.
 When broken down, these macromolecules can serve
as a source of energy or as building blocks for other
organic molecules.
 The enzymatic breakdown of macromolecules into
simpler ones is referred to as catabolism.
 This process takes place in 4 stages (glycolysis,
pyruvate oxidation, the Krebs cycle and the electron
transport chain).
 DIGESTION
 Macromolecules in food are broken down into
simpler ones through the help of enzymes
 Proteins are broken down into amino acids.
 Fats into 3 fatty acids and glycerol.
 Polysaccharides into glucose, fructose and
galactose.
 Digestion could either occur in the intestine
(outside of cells) or in specialized organelles
within the cell such as the Lysosome.
 GLYCOLYSIS
 Glycolysis is the metabolic breakdown of glucose into
pyruvate with or without oxygen. It occurs in the cytoplasm
of the cell.
 Glycolysis produces of pyruvate, ATP, NADH and Water
molecules.
 The oxidation of pyruvate yields NADH and later ATP which
serve as activated carriers.
 In the mitochondria, pyruvate is converted into acetyl CoA
and CO2 .
 More Acetyl CoA is also produced from the breakdown of
fats in the same compartment.
 THE CITRIC ACID CYCLE

 Acetyl group of acetyl CoA is transferred to an oxaloacetate

molecule to form citrate.
 The citrate enters the citric acid cycle where the transferred
acetyl group is oxidized to CO2 with the production of NADH.
 Electrons are passed on from NADH to a series of enzymes
inside the inner mitochondrial membrane in a process called
the Electron Transport Chain.
 Energy released from the transfer of electrons is used to
produce ATP.
 Through the production of ATP, the energy
from the breakdown of sugars and fats is
redistributed into chemical energy to be
used by the cell.
 About 1 billion (109) molecules of ATP are in
solution in a cell at any instant.
 In most cells all of this ATP is used and
replaced (turned over) every 1-2 minutes.
GLYCOLYSIS
 SUMMARY OF GLYCOLYSIS
 Comes from the word Glykys- “sweet” and lysis –
“splitting”.
 Glycolysis can occur in the presence/absence of oxygen
(aerobic or anaerobic).
 Occurs in the cytosol of most cells .
 Glucose is split into 2 molecules of pyruvate.
 For each molecule of glucose that is broken down, there is
a net gain of 2 molecules of ATP and two molecules of
NADH.
 **Pyruvate is the conjugate base of pyruvic acid.
 STEPS IN GLYCOLYSIS -10 ENZYME-
CATALYZED REACTIONS

1. The phosphorylation of glucose (a phosphate group is

irreversibly attached to glucose) to form Glucose-6-
phosphate (G6P) by hexokinase.
2. Isomerization of glucose-6-phosphate (rearrangement
of covalent bonds in glucose-6-phosphate) to fructose-
6-phosphate (F6P) by phosphoglucose isomerase.
3. Phosphorylation of fructose-6-phosphate to form
fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (FbP) by
phosphofructokinase. This stage requires energy and is
also irreversible.
4. Fructose bisphosphate aldolase splits Fructose-
1,6-bisphosphate into Dihydroxyacetone phosphate
and Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.
5. Isomerization of dihydroxyacetone phosphate
into a 2nd glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate by the
enzyme triose phosphate isomerase.
**steps 1-5 are the energy consuming stages where
2 molecules of Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate are
produced and 2 molecules of ATP are consumed
***.
6. Oxidative phosphorylation of glyceraldehyde-3-
phosphate to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate by the enzyme
glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase.
**Here, a total of 2 molecules of NADH (one for each G-3-P)
are produced which are then used to produce ATP for the
cell.**
7. Transfer of a phosphate group from 1,3-
bisphosphoglycerate to ADP to form ATP and 3-
phospoglycerate by the enzyme phosphoglycerate
kinase. This step is also an irreversible reaction.***
8. Isomerization of 3-
phosphoglycerate (a reaction where a
phosphate group on C3 of 3-
phosphoglycerate is moved to C2) to
form 2-phosphoglycerate by the
enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase.

9. Dehydration of 2-phosphoglycerate
to form Phosphoenolpyruvate
catalyzed by enolase.
10. Transfer of phosphate group
from phosphoenolpyruvate to ADP to
form ATP and pyruvate. This is
catalyzed by pyruvate kinase and is
also an irreversible reaction.
ATE OF PYRUVATE
Depending on
the organism
and the
metabolic
conditions, the
pyruvate takes
one of the
following three
essential
routes:
 CONTROLLING GLYCOLYSIS
 Rate of glycolysis is controlled at steps 1, 3 and 10.

 Step 3 is the main control point. The enzyme for this step;
phosphofructokinase is deactivated (turned off) by ATP and citrate. ATP
and citrate are collectively known as Negative effectors

 AMP and ADP are positive effectors. They activate the enzyme.

 Cells with a lot of energy have high citrate and ATP concentrations and
hence under these conditions, production of ATP by glycolysis is
inhibited
 When a cell is energy poor, ADP and AMP
concentrations are high and this activates
phosphofructokinase to allow glycolysis to proceed.
 Hexokinase in step 1 is deactivated by G-6-P. A rise
in the concentration of G-6-P can be caused by
inhibition of step3, by the manufacture of glucose,
or by the breakdown of glycogen. This slows down
step 1
 At the 10th step of glycolysis, pyruvate kinase is
deactivated by ATP, fructose 1,6-bisphosphate and
alanine.
QUESTION

 Which step in glycolysis

would both oxidation and
reduction occur? What is
oxidized and what is
reduced?
 WHAT HAPPENS TO FATS?
 Fatty acids derived from fats are also converted
into Acetyl CoA in the matrix of the
mitochondria.
 Fatty acids are first activated by covalent
linkages to CoA and then broken down
completely by a cycle of reactions.
 These reactions remove 2 Carbons at a time
from their carboxyl end; generating one
molecule of acetyl CoA for each turn of the
cycle.
 NADH and FADH2 are produced in this process.
 WHAT HAPPENS TO AMINO
ACIDS?
 Amino acids are transported from the cytosol into
the mitochondrial matrix.
 They are converted into acetylCoA or one of the
intermediates of the Citric acid cycle.
 **the mitochondria is the site for all energy-
yielding catabolic processes whether from sugar,
fats or amino acids.
 In aerobic bacteria which have no mitochondria,
glycolysis and acetylCoA production as well as the
citric acid cycle occur in the cytosol.
 THE CITRIC ACID
CYCLE
 Accounts for a little over 60% of the total
oxidation of carbon compounds in most cells.
 Major end products are CO2 and NADH.
 CO2 is released as a waste product; while high
energy electrons from NADH are passed on into
the Electron Transport Chain (ETC) to combine
with O2 and produce H2O.
 The Citric acid cycle occurs in the
mitochondrial matrix. The ETC does not use O2
in itself but needs O2 to proceed.
 This
is because the ETC uses O2 as its final electron
acceptor allows NADH to get rid of its electrons and
regenerate NAD+.
 TheNAD+ produced is needed to keep the cycle
going.
 TheCAC catalyzes the complete oxidation of Carbon
atoms of the acetyl groups in acetylCoA into CO2.
 SO HOW DOES THIS

WORK?
Acetyl groups from acetyl CoA are
transferred to oxaloacetate to form Citric
acid (a 6C tricarboxylic acid).
 Citric acid/citrate is progressively oxidized
and the energy produced is used to
produced activated carriers as in Glycolysis.
 The cycle involves a chain of 8 reactions
(oxaloacetate that begins the cycle is
regenerated at the end).
 Each
turn of the cycle produces 3 molecules of
NADH, one molecule of FADH2 (reduced flavine
adenine dinucleotide) from FAD and one molecule
of GTP (gaunosine triphosphate) from GDP.
 GTP
is closely related to ATP and a transfer of its
terminal phosphate group to ADP produces one
ATP in each cycle.
 KEY POINTS ABOUT THE
CAC
 The citric acid cycle releases both carbons from acetyl-CoA
as CO2 and produces NADH, FADH2 and GTP.
 There are three points of regulation in the CAC. The most
important is the isocitrate dehydrogenase-controlled by
ATP and NADH.
 The CAC serves as a metabolic traffic circle that receives C
skeletons from amino acids and fatty acids and donates C
skeletons to amino acids & porphyrins.
 Increased flow of acetyl-CoA into the CAC is made possible
by pyruvate carboxylase, thus providing substrate to
combine with the increased amounts of acetyl CoA.
 FATE OF END PRODUCTS OF
GLYCOLYSIS AND CAC
 Glycolysis and CAC produce both energy for the cell and
building blocks from which other organic molecules are made.

 Intermediates formed in Glycolysis and CAC are drawn off by

anabolic pathways in which they are converted into amino
acids, nucleotides, lipids etc through enzyme catalyzed
reactions.

 Oxaloacetate and α-ketoglutarate from the CAC are transferred

form the mitochondrial matrix back into the cytosol where they
are converted into aspartate and glutamate respectively.
 ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN-
THE FINAL STAGE
 NADH and FADH2 transfer high energy electrons
through oxidative phosphorylation to the ETC.
 The ETC occurs in the inner mitochondrial
membrane in eukaryotes and in the plasma
membrane of aerobic bacteria.
 Passage of electrons through series of acceptor and
donor molecules successively lowers their energy
states.
 At their lowest energy level, electrons extract the
available energy from food that is being oxidized
(about 30 molecules of ATP produced).
 REGULATION OF
METABOLISM
 All organisms need to replenish their ATP pools through the
oxidation of fats or sugars to maintain order within their cells.

 Excess food is stored in special reserves that can be later

consumed when other sources are scarce.

 Depending on the conditions, a cell decides whether to burn

molecules to provide energy or use them to build other
molecules.
 FEEDBACK REGULATION

 During periods of intensive fasting or physical exercise, the

body’s glucose reserves get used up.
 Glucose is made available from pyruvate through
gluconeogenesis.
 Gluconeogenesis is the opposite of glycolysis. It utilizes
enzymes of the glycolytic pathway but in the reverse.
 For eg: phosphofructokinase catalyzes the conversion of F-6-
P to F-1,6-bisphosphate. In gluconeogenesis, F-1,6-
bisphosphatase removes a phosphate from this intermediate
to pdce F-6-P.
 The binding of metabolites produces both positive and
negative feedback regulation.
 The enzyme is activated by ADP, AMP and Pi while it is
inactivated by ATP.
 When ATP is depleted, phosphofructokinase is activated so
that glycolysis will proceed. When ATP is abundant, it is
suppressed and glycolysis shuts down. F-1,6-bisphosphatase
is also regulated the same way but in the opposite.
 Hence inactivation of phosphofructokinase will in turn
activate F-1,6-bisphophatase so that gluconeogenesis will
proceed.
 Gluconeogenesis requires more energy than glycolysis (4
ATPs and 2 GTPs consumed).
 Metabolic
pathways of the cell are also regulated
by hormones (insulin, glucagon and adrenaline).
 Excess food in animals is stored as glycogen or
fat. In plants, food is stored as starch and fats.
 Fatsand starch in plants are stored in
chloroplasts.
 Essential
Cell Biology
Chapter 13
 Gluconeogenesis
 glycogenolysis

FURTHER READING
THANK
YOU!