Chapter 6

Energy and Metabolism

You Should Know

Examples of endergonic and exergonic reations
The key role of ATP in energy coupling
Enzymes work by lowering the activation energy
The factors that influence enzyme activity
Anabolic and catabolic reactions

Energy: The Capacity to do WORK

Kinetic energy (KE): energy associated with motion
- Heat (thermal energy) is KE associated with random
movement of atoms or molecules
Potential energy (PE): stored energy as a result of its position
or structure
- Chemical energy is PE available for release in a chemical
reaction
Energy can be converted from one form to another
ex. chemical mechanical electrical

Energy: Redox Reactions

Reduction (receiving electrons) couples with
Oxidation (donating electrons)
Reduced form of a molecule has HIGHER level of energy
than the oxidized form

Thermodynamics
Study of energy transformations that occur in nature

First Law of Thermodynamics

Conservation of Energy:
Energy cannot be created or destroyed
Within living organisms,
chemical potential energy
stored in some molecules
can be transferred to other
molecules and stored in
different chemical bonds.
During each conversion,
energy is dissipated as heat.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

Entropy increases:
Disorder in the universe is continuously increasing
Disorder is more likely than
order.
It takes energy (work) to
counteract entropy.

Free Energy (G)

The energy available to
do work in any system.
Gibbs free energy is EQUAL to the enthalpy (energy
contained within a molecules chemical bonds)
MINUS (entropy TIMES temperature):
As chemical reactions produce changes in free energy,
we can use the change in free energy to predict
whether the reaction will occur spontaneously:

A cell does three

kinds of work:
Chemical
Transport
Mechanical

Cells manage energy resources to do work by energy

coupling: using an exergonic process to drive an
endergonic one

Activation Energy
Before new chemical bonds can form (even less
energy intensive ones), existing bonds must be
broken. That requires energy

Catalysts

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

- Cells release and store energy in the bonds of
ATP (currency of energy in the cell)
- Nucleotide:
- 5-c sugar
- (ribose)

- Nitrogenous base
- (adenine)

- Phosphate groups **
- (3 of them)

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

When the bonds between the phosphate groups are
broken by hydrolysis energy is released.
This drives endergonic reactions.
The release of
energy comes
from the chemical
change to a state
of lower free
energy, not in the
phosphate bonds
themselves

Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)

Enzymes
- Biological catalysts; most are proteins (some RNA)
- Enzymes facilitate substrates to undergo chemical
reactions
- Lowers activation
energy
- Not changed or
consumed
- Recycled
- High specificity

Enzymes: Lowers Activation Energy

Enzymes: Active Site

Enzyme Action

Enzyme Action

Enzyme Action

Enzymes
Induced Fit: enzyme snugly fits around substrate

Enzymes Occur in Many Forms

- Multi-enzyme complexes (stable assemblies of
more than one enzyme, usually involved in
sequential catalytic transformation)
- Non-protein enzymes (RNA based; ribozymes
can act upon themselves or on other molecules)

An enzymes activity
can be affected by:
temperature
pH
concentrations
chemicals

Enzymes: Activators and Inhibitors

Cofactors: non-protein enzyme helpers such as
minerals (i.e., Zn, Fe, Cu)
Coenzymes: organic cofactors (i.e., vitamins)
Competitive inhibitor: binds to the active site of
an enzyme, competes with substrate
Noncompetitive inhibitor: binds to another part
of an enzyme enzyme changes shape
active site is nonfunctional

Inhibition of Enzyme Activity

Enzymes: Activators and Inhibitors

To regulate metabolic pathways, the cell switches on/off
the genes that encode specific enzymes
Allosteric regulation: proteins function at one site is
affected by binding of a regulatory molecule to a
separate site (allosteric site)
Activator stabilizes active site
Inhibitor stabilizes inactive form
Cooperativity one substrate triggers shape change
in other active sites increase catalytic activity

Metabolism
The totality of an organisms chemical reactions
Manages the materials and energy resources of a cell
Catabolic pathways release energy by breaking down
complex molecules into simpler compounds (ex.
digestive enzymes break down food release energy)
Anabolic pathways consume energy to build complex
molecules from simpler ones (ex. amino acids link to
form muscle protein)

Metabolism
Stepwise fashion:

Feedback inhibition
regulates some
biochemical
pathways:

Chapter 6 Review

Define metabolism.
List 3 forms of energy.
What are the 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics?
Is the breakdown of glucose in cellular respiration
exergonic or endergonic?
What type of factors can affect an enzymes activity
on a substrate?