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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 ...
The reactions involved in respiration are catabolic reactions, which break large molecules into smaller ones, producing large amounts of energy (ATP). Respiration is one of the key ways a cell releases chemical energy to fuel cellular activity. The overall reaction occurs in a series of biochemical steps, some of which are redox reactions.
A core set of energy-producing catabolic pathways occur within all living organisms in some form. These pathways transfer the energy released by breakdown of nutrients into ATP and other small molecules used for energy (e.g. GTP, NADPH, FADH 2). All cells can perform anaerobic respiration by glycolysis.
The NADH generated by the citric acid cycle is fed into the oxidative phosphorylation (electron transport) pathway. The net result of these two closely linked pathways is the oxidation of nutrients to produce usable chemical energy in the form of ATP. In eukaryotic cells, the citric acid cycle occurs in the matrix of the mitochondrion.
About 70-80% is converted into hydrocarbonate ions, The remainder binds with haemoglobin in red blood cells, is carried to the lungs, and exhaled. [11] H 2 O also diffuses out of the cell into the bloodstream, from where it is excreted in the form of perspiration, water vapour in the breath, or urine from the kidneys.
The overall process of creating energy in this fashion is termed oxidative phosphorylation. The same process takes place in the mitochondria, where ATP synthase is located in the inner mitochondrial membrane and the F 1-part projects into the mitochondrial matrix. By pumping proton cations into the matrix, the ATP-synthase converts ADP into ATP.
Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is a nucleoside triphosphate [2] that provides energy to drive and support many processes in living cells, such as muscle contraction, nerve impulse propagation, and chemical synthesis. Found in all known forms of life, it is often referred to as the "molecular unit of currency" for intracellular energy transfer. [3]
The energy derived from the pumping of protons across a cell membrane is frequently used as the energy source in secondary active transport. In humans, sodium (Na + ) is a commonly cotransported ion across the plasma membrane, whose electrochemical gradient is then used to power the active transport of a second ion or molecule against its ...