Ethanol Metabolism Alcohol is metabolized by several processes or pathways. The most common of these pathways involves two enzymes—alcohol dehydrogenase (ADH) and aldehyde dehydrogenase (ALDH). These enzymes help break apart the alcohol molecule, making it possible to eliminate it from the body. First, ADH metabolizes alcohol to acetaldehyde, a highly toxic substance and known carcinogen. Then, … Read more Ethanol Metabolism
Brain Lipid Extraction Protocol “Brain lipid extracts” refers to a lipid mixture extracted from the brain tissue of animals. It has been found that such brain lipid extracts contain a mixture of long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFAs) that have four or more double bonds and closely resemble the mixture of PUFAs found in human … Read more Brain Lipid Extraction Protocol
Glycogenolysis Glycogen is the major storage form of carbohydrate in animals similar to starch in plants. It is a homopolymer made up of repeated units of α- D glucose and each molecule is linked to another by 1→4 glycosidic bond which is a link connecting the 1st C atom of the active glucose residue to … Read more Glycogenolysis
De novo pyrimidine synthesis Biosynthesis of pyrimidine nucleotides can occur by a de novo pathway or by the reutilization of preformed pyrimidine bases or ribonucleosides (salvage pathway). The pyrimidine synthesis is a similar process than that of purines. In the de novo synthesis of pyrimidines, the ring is synthesized first and then it is attached to a ribose-phosphate to for a pyrimidine nucleotide. … Read more De novo pyrimidine synthesis
Alpha Oxidation Alpha – oxidation is defined as the oxidation of fatty acid (methyl group at beta carbon) with the removal of one carbon unit adjacent to the α-carbon from the carboxylic end. The carbon unit is removed in the form of CO2. Alpha oxidation occurs in those fatty acids that have a methyl group … Read more Alpha Oxidation
Glycogenesis Glycogen is the major storage form of carbohydrate in animals similar to starch in plants. It is a homopolymer made up of repeated units of α- D glucose and each molecule is linked to another by 1→4 glycosidic bond which is a link connecting the 1st C atom of the active glucose residue to … Read more Glycogenesis
Enzyme Inhibition Enzymes are the biological macromolecules, also called as biological catalysts, which speed up the rate of biochemical reactions without undergoing any change. It is a highly selective catalyst that greatly accelerates both the rate and specificity of metabolic reactions. Many types of molecule exist which are capable of interfering with the activity of an … Read more Enzyme Inhibition
The Michaelis–Menten model A major role of proteins is to serve as enzymes, the catalysts of biochemical reactions. They do so by reducing the Gibbs free energy of activation, ΔG, making it easier for the reaction to reach its transition state. The rate (v) of many enzyme-catalyzed reactions can be described by the Michaelis–Menten equation. … Read more The Michaelis–Menten model
Buffer and Extraction Buffer A buffer is an aqueous solution consisting of a mixture of a weak acid and its salt (acidic buffer) or a weak base and its salt (basic buffer) that resists a change in pH on the addition of either acid or base. Its pH changes very little when a small amount … Read more Buffer and Extraction Buffer
Water Soluble Vitamins- B-Complex and C Vitamins refer to any of a group of organic compounds which are essential for normal growth and nutrition and are required in small quantities in the diet. Vitamins are biologically important. Although a micronutrient, it enhances the metabolism of macronutrients like proteins, carbohydrates and fats. Vitamins are also required … Read more Water Soluble Vitamins- B-Complex and C
Fructose Metabolism Fructose is an abundant sugar in the human diet. This dietary monosaccharide is present naturally in fruits and vegetables, either as free fructose or as part of the disaccharide sucrose, and as its polymer inulin. Sucrose (table sugar) is a disaccharide which when hydrolyzed yields fructose and glucose. The metabolism of fructose from dietary sources is referred to as fructolysis. Location of Fructose Metabolism Fructose metabolism takes … Read more Fructose Metabolism
Fatty Acid Synthesis Lipogenesis, the synthesis of fatty acids and their esterification to glycerol to form triacylglycerols, which occurs mainly in the liver in humans, with dietary carbohydrate as the major source of carbon. While the de novo synthesis of fatty acids from acetyl-CoA occurs in the cytosol on the fatty acid synthase complex. Fatty … Read more Fatty Acid Synthesis
Uronic Acid Pathway Uronic acids are a class of sugar acids with both carbonyl and carboxylic acid functional groups. They are sugars in which the terminal carbon’s hydroxyl group has been oxidized to a carboxylic acid. Oxidation of the terminal aldehyde instead yields an aldonic acid, while oxidation of both the terminal hydroxyl group and the aldehyde yields an aldaric acid. The names of uronic acids … Read more Uronic Acid Pathway
Nitrogen Cycle- Steps and Significance The movement of nitrogen between the atmosphere, biosphere, and geosphere in different forms is called the nitrogen cycle and is one of the major biogeochemical cycles. It may also be considered as the movement of nitrogen through the food chain from simple inorganic compounds, mainly ammonia, to complex organic compounds. This complex cycle involves bacteria, plants and … Read more Nitrogen Cycle- Steps and Significance
Oxidative Phosphorylation The NADH and FADH2, formed during glycolysis, β-oxidation of fatty acids and the TCA cycle, give up their electrons to reduce molecular O2 to H2O. Electron transfer occurs through a series of protein electron carriers, the final acceptor being O2; the pathway called as the electron transport chain (ETC). The function of ETC … Read more Oxidative Phosphorylation
