Biochemistry III (Animal Processes)

Learn more about the biological functions of metabolism

 

Explore biochemistry in greater detail with this intermediate-level course. The target audience for this course is anyone working in or interested in a career in human or animal health or science, whether as a practitioner, educator, or researcher.

You will study a variety of intricate metabolic processes in this course, such as:

• glycolysis and glycogen metabolism
• lipid, amino acid and nucleotide metabolism
• enzyme activity
• sugar and polysaccharide metabolism
• electron transport oxidative phosphorylation and movement across membranes

…and more.

Deepen your comprehension of how life works. a course created for those who are now working in or who want to work in the fields of human health sciences, animal health sciences, and other science-related professions like health care practitioners, educators, or researchers. Learn to describe a variety of typical biochemical processes, with a focus on those that affect humans and animals.

Biochemistry II or knowledge of an equivalent level is required.

Lesson Structure

There are 10 lessons in this course:

1. Introduction
   • Including: sources of energy; the digestive process as a source of energy; components of the cell; catabolic and anabolic metabolism, energy exchanges; free energy; enthalpy; entropy; energy transporters; ATP; oxidation-reduction process; enzymes.
2. Glycolysis and Glycogen Metabolism
   • Including: glucose, glycolysis; activation of glycolysis; metabolism of pyruvate; glycogen; fructose and galactose.
3. Movement through Membranes
   • Including: membranes; kinetics and mechanisms of movement; mediated and non-mediated transport; passive mediated glucose transport; ion gradient active transport; ATP driven active transport; ionophores.
4. Electron Transport and Oxidative Phosphorylation
   • Including: the mitochondrion; electron transport; oxidative phosphorylation; citric acid cycle; control of ATP production.
5. Sugar and Polysaccharide Metabolism
   • Including: sugars; glycoproteins; biosynthesis of oligosaccharides and glycoproteins; pentose phosphate pathway.
6. Lipid Metabolism
   • Including: lipids, lipid metabolism; pancreas and bile acid; transport across the mitochondrial membrane; fatty acid oxidation in the mitochondrion; beta oxidation; unsaturated fatty acid oxidation; ketone bodies; biosynthesis of fatty acids; metabolic control and regulation of fatty acid metabolism; cholesterol synthesis, control of cholesterol biosynthesis and transport; arachidonate metabolism; phospholipid and glycolipid metabolism.
7. Amino Acid Metabolism
   • Including: amino acids, amino acid metabolism, transamination, synthesis, amino acid catabolism; glucogenic and ketogenic; the urea cycle; biosynthetic precursors and the role of amino acids; physiologically active amines; biosynthesis of non-essential amino acids; biosynthesis of essential amino acids; aspartate family; pyruvate family; aromatic family; histidine; major organs; nitrogen fixation.
8. Nucleotide Metabolism
   • Including: nuclei acids; nucleotides; synthesis and regulation of ribonucleotides; purines; pyrimidines; formation of DNA, nucleotide degradation; purine catabolism; purine nucleotide cycle; nucleotide coenzymes in animals.
9. Enzyme Activity
   • Including: enzymes; enzyme classification; enzyme kinetics; enzyme regulation; induced fit; lock and key mechanism.
10. Other Processes
    • Including: homeostasis; hormones; neurotransmitters; signalling cascade; receptor binding; nuclear localisation signals.

Each lesson culminates in an assignment which is submitted to the school, marked by the school’s tutors and returned to you with any relevant suggestions, comments, and if necessary, extra reading.

Aims

• Describe how the various biochemical processes interact with one another inside animal cells.
• Describe glycolysis and glycogen metabolism in detail.
• Recognize how biochemicals are transported across animal membranes.
• Describe the functions of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation in the regulation of animal energy.
• Describe how carbs are metabolised.
• Describe the lipid metabolism.
• Describe the amino acid metabolism.
• Describe the biological nucleotide metabolism process.
• Describe biochemical catalysis and enzyme processes.
• Describe additional biochemical procedures, such as hormone and neurotransmission-based biochemical communication.

How You Plan to Act

• Talk about the three macromolecules that are most prevalent in living things.
• Examine and debate diseases of carbohydrate metabolism.
• Talk about the propagation of nerve impulses.
• Investigate and talk about mitochondrial errors.
• Prepare for any patient talks that may occur.
• Start a problem-based learning project to learn about specific malignancies and diseases associated to cancer.
• Discuss the evolution of phenylketonuria.

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The Basis for All Applied Biological Work is Biochemistry

The many distinct chemicals that make up an animal’s and human’s body are continually changing.

• Chemicals are inhaled (in the air), eaten (as food), and excreted (eg. sweat, our bowels and urine).
• These chemicals travel throughout the body in between, changing shape by dissolving into smaller molecules or joining forces to create larger molecules. Some are utilised to build body tissues, while others are used to provide energy for movement. Aged tissues decompose into excretable substances, some of which are stored for later use, possibly as fat.

This course focuses on deepening your understanding of the chemical changes that occur to chemicals while they are inside an animal or human body. It makes the assumption that you have a broad understanding of biochemistry (achieved in Biochemistry I) and an understanding of the various types of molecules (achieved in Biochemistry II).

 

What Manifests as a Metabolic Process?

One such procedure is the citric acid cycle ” The Krebs cycle, named for the researcher who initially described the characteristics of this metabolic process, is another name for the citric acid cycle. This cycle occurs in the mitochondria, which house the necessary enzymes; as a result of its location, the electrons from this cycle and those involved in mitochondrial electron transport interact directly.

This cycle is crucial for the cellular oxidation of carbohydrates, fatty acids, and amino acids. It also provides a large number of precursors for biosynthetic reactions. As a result, it is an amphibolic (both anabolic and catabolic) route that the cell must carefully manage.

During a series of events, the acetyl CoA that was produced from pyruvic acid is entirely oxidised to H2O and CO2 in the TCA cycle. The pyruvic dehydrogenase complex helps the pyruvic acid from glycolysis enter the mitochondria where it is oxidised to acetyl CoA. The TCA cycle runs on acetyl CoA as its fuel.

The TCA cycle is a chain of 8 processes that results in the creation of 2 carbon dioxide molecules, 3 NADH, and 1 FADH. The acetyl CoA is condensed with an oxaloacetate in the cycle’s first phase, and since the oxaloacetate is recycled at the conclusion, an endless number of acetyl CoA can be completely oxidised by a single oxaloacetate.

The enzymes citrate synthase, isocitrate dehydrogenase, and a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase catalyse the rate-regulating stages of the TCA cycle. The underlying process is determined by the availability of the substrate, product inhibition, and other substrate intermediate inhibition.”