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Metabolism (/ m ə ˈ t æ b ə l ɪ z ə m /, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the ...
Illustration of the activation of lipolysis in an adipocyte.Induced by high epinephrine and low insulin levels in the blood, epinephrine binds to beta-adrenergic receptors on the cell membrane of the adipocyte, which causes cAMP to be generated inside the cell.
Lipid metabolism is the synthesis and degradation of lipids in cells, involving the breakdown and storage of fats for energy and the synthesis of structural and functional lipids, such as those involved in the construction of cell membranes. In animals, these fats are obtained from food and are synthesized by the liver. [1]
The glyoxylate shunt pathway is an alternative to the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle, for it redirects the pathway of TCA to prevent full oxidation of carbon compounds, and to preserve high energy carbon sources as future energy sources. This pathway occurs only in plants and bacteria and transpires in the absence of glucose molecules.
Carbohydrate metabolism is the whole of the biochemical processes responsible for the metabolic formation, breakdown, and interconversion of carbohydrates in living organisms. Carbohydrates are central to many essential metabolic pathways . [ 1 ]
The completed metabolic pathway is modeled mathematically to find the theoretical yield of the product or the reaction fluxes in the cell. A flux is the rate at which a given reaction in the network occurs. Simple metabolic pathway analysis can be done by hand, but most require the use of software to perform the computations. [15]
Catabolism is the breaking-down aspect of metabolism, whereas anabolism is the building-up aspect. Cells use the monomers released from breaking down polymers to either construct new polymer molecules or degrade the monomers further to simple waste products, releasing energy.
If the temperature rises and molecules containing these interactions are moving too fast, the interactions become compromised or even break. At high temperatures, these interactions cannot form, and a functional protein is denatured. [25] However, it relies on two factors; the type of protein used and the amount of heat applied.