Metabolism

Count the Carbons!

Benjamin Gilbert-Jespersen
MSc. Clinical Nutrition
Bachelor’s Degree in Global Nutrition and Health
What are catabolic and anabolic
reactions?

No time to think! Answer now ☺

 Metabolism:
Chemical Reactions in the Body
Alcohol

Energy use
Energy yield
Study Question
2 & 2 – 5 minutes

List tasks that the body needs energy for

 How is this energy obtained?
Catabolism: Energy for the Cells

Energy-use by cells
 Building compounds (anabolism)
 Contracting muscles
 Conducting nerve impulses
 Pumping ions (across cell membranes actively)

Production of E begins with digestion

 Macronutrients are broken down to be absorbed
 In the body further breakdown and processing is done in the
cells

Monosaccharides, AAs, Fatty acids, Glycerol, Alcohol

 Further processed in the body to yield E in the form of ATP
 Monosaccharides
 AAs
 Fas
 Glycerol
 Alcohol
 Further proccessed in the
body to yield E in the form of
ATP
Study Question
2 &2 – 10 minutes

Describe ATP as compound including:

 How much is stored in the body?
 Function in the energy metabolism
 Re-formation of ATP with use of energy from
macronutrients
 How much do we need daily?
 Draw it (in your mind at least)!
Energy Product Formed in Catabolism:
Adenosine Triphosphate ATP

The common energy source in all cells
 Adenosine Triphosphate (ATP)
 Body stores are 100g
 A sedentary adult needs 40 kg every day!

One hour’s streneous exercise requires 30 kg of ATP
Which of the following processes
happens in the mitochondria?

Glycolysis

Citric acid cycle

Electron transport chain
Mitochondria
The main site of energy production in the cells

Transition reaction

Citric acid cycle (also called Krebs cycle)

Electron transport chain
Study Question
2&2 – 5 minutes

Glycolysis

Describe the process

List the energy yield

List the end product (count the carbons!)
 In what situations is the end product lactate?
Glycolysis: First Step of CHO Metabolism

Glucose catabolism
 In the cytosol of the cell

Two main roles

 Break down glucose to yield energy
 Provide building blocks for other
compounds

 Through several steps glucose is

turned into pyruvate

Glucose (6 carbon ring) ⇒
2 x pyruvate (3-carbon compound)
Glycolysis

Anaerobic conditions
Pyruvate to Acetyl-CoA
Aerobic Conditions

Happens via ”The Transition Reaction”
 The pyruvate enters the mitochondria
 The conversion to acetyl-CoA req. Vitamin-Bs

Thiamin, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid

B-vitamins are very important in CHO metabolism

The 2 pyruvates yield 2 molecules of acetyl-CoA

Acetyl-CoA is a substrate forAnaerobic
the citric acidConditions
cycle

Lactate
Study Question
2 & 2 – 8 minutes

Why is Krebs cycle also called the citric

acid cycle?

What does the cycle end with?

What is produced through the chemical
processes forming the cycle?
Citric Acid Cycle aka Krebs Cycle

The cycle begins with acetyl-CoA

Takes place in the mitochondria

Yields E as ATP (not much)
 Substrates for further E-production in the
electron transport chain

NADH

FADH2

GTP

Converts carbons of
the acetyl group to
produce CO2 and Energy
ATP Production from CHO

ATP is generated through cellular respiration

Oxidizing food molecules to obtain ATP

Oxygen is the final electron acceptor in this process

Cellular respiration is classified as either
 ”Aerobic” with oxygen present (30-32 ATP/glucose molecule)
 ”Anaerobic” without oxygen present (2 ATP/glucose molecule)

Humans inhale oxygen and exhale carbondioxide + water

Explosive muscle work is often anaerobic
Mitochondrial Structure
Electron Transport Chain
Hydrogen Ions as fuel for the ATP Synthase
Electron Transport Chain

Happens in the mitochondria (over the inner-membrane)

Final pathway of aerobic respiration

Needs and uses oxygen!

Yields almost 90 % of ATP from catabolism of glucose

As electrons are passed from one carrier to the next in red-ox

reactions, small amounts of E are released

Oxidative phosphorylation
 E from NADPH + H+ and FADH2 is used to form ATP
 Dependent on iron (cytochromes) and copper (co-enzyme)

A total of 28 ATPs are formed from one glucose molecule in this

process
Electron Transport Chain
A mitochondrial Process
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
(Red-ox reactions)

Key processes in energy metabolism

Cu+ ⇔ Cu2+ + e- Oxidation

Fe3++ e- ⇔ Fe2+ Reduction

The ox. and red. reactions go together and one can not happen without
the other:
Cu+ + Fe3+ ⇒ Cu2+ + Fe2+

Transfer of energy from macronutrients
 Uses oxidation-reduction reactions
 e- and H+ are transfered in a series of reactions
 These reactions eventually form water and release large amounts of energy (E)
 The released energy is used to form ATP

Red-ox reactions are catalyzed and controled by enzymes

 Dehydrogeneases
 Co-enzymes to dehydrogenases

B-vitamins: Niacin and Riboflavin
Co-enzyme and Apo-enzyme

Apo-enzyme is the enzyme without the co-enzyme
 Not active, no function

Co-enzyme is the missing part for the specific apo-enzyme

 In unity they work as an active enzyme with ability to turn a substrate
into a product

Many essential micronutrients are co-enzymes

 Iron, Copper, Zink, Selenium, Vitamin Bs, Vitamin C etc.
Study Questions!
1. What is the main form of energy used by the body?

2. What are catabolic and anabolic reactions?

3. What is the difference between oxidation and reduction

reactions?

4. How do the vitamin Bs niacin and riboflavin play a role

in metabolism?