Questions tagged [metabolism]
Metabolism is the set of defined biochemical transformations occuring within the cells of living organisms.
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What happens if an enzyme stops working in the body?
For example, if the enzymes in the digestive system stop working will the digestion still occur as enzymes are only catalysts for the reactions.
Thank You
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A biological system to measure time
First of all I am a physicist, so I apologise for my non-existent understanding of basic biology. However, I have what I think is an interesting question and this seems like a good place to ask it...
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During weight loss, do we inhale more oxygen?
During weight loss, triglycerides which are composed of carbon, hydrogen and oxygen, are broken down. During respiration, the inhaled $O_2$ is bonded to a carbon atom to form $CO_2$ which we exhale. ...
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Does the arrangement of amino acids in a protein matter for nutrition?
Let's say there are two diets, consisting of entirely different proteins. If you split up all of the proteins from one day of each diet, you'll get the same set of amino acids and the same count of ...
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About the definition of ketogenic amino acid
I am studying biochemistry and have been looking at metabolic network diagrams showing the different intermediates of glycolysis and the citric acid cycle that amino acids can be converted to.
I have ...
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May two reactions, that share the same reactant, fire at the same moment?
I'm studying metabolic networks from a bioinformatics point of view, but I guess my question is pretty biological so I thought that maybe here I could get the best answers.
So, as the title says I ...
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Can you predict what the metabolites of pipradrol would be? Are they similar to those of methylphenidate? [closed]
As these drugs are structurally very similar, I am curious about how the body would handle them. Ritalinic acid is a major metabolite of methylphenidate, but that's about all I know.
Thanks
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Does food lose some of its mass in form of energy during metabolism?
I had an argument with someone.
I argued that when a cat eats 1 kg of food, the sum of subsequent output (poo + pee + sweat + change of body mass) must be equal to 1 kg.
My opponent argued that the ...
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1answer
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What is a flux control coefficient?
In metabolic control analysis, a number of coefficients are defined, including the flux control coefficients. How is this coefficient defined and what does it measure?
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What enzyme or bacteria could dissolve plastic?
What enzyme or bacteria could dissolve plastic aside from acetone? Preferably, low-cost and environmentally friendly. Any suggestions would be helpful.
I'm targeting for thin plastic (low-density ...
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Why does entering cryptobiosis make an animal more resilient to extreme conditions?
I recently learned about tardigrades which can withstand extreme conditions by entering a cryptobiotic state. Based on googling and wikipedia, supposedly in this state, their metabolism supposedly ...
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How important is getting enough glucose for maximal brain performance / cognition?
I know from many studies that have been done, that resting versus active use of the brain has relatively similar overall energy expenditure levels.
On the other hand, however, we know that the brain ...
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Is cellular biomass synthesis and reactive oxygen species generation coupled with each other in cells?
Assuming that total ROS = ROS generated during biomass synthesis + ROS generated for other metabolic tasks, is it possible to quantify the amount of ROS generated specifically during biomass synthesis?...
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Can radiation exposure cause cancer later in life even if no traces of radioactive material are present in the body anymore?
I had a long-lasting debate with a friend of mine about the Fukushima incident.
The question that we tried to solve was if radiation or toxin exposure can cause cancer later in life even if no ...
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1answer
53 views
What triggers the switch between aerobic and anaerobic respiration?
I understand that when there is a shortage of oxygen cells convert the pyruvic acid from glycolysis to lactic acid to regenerate NAD+. What I don’t understand is how they switch to anaerobic ...
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Could certain drugs enable one to consistently eat above TDEE or BMR without fat gains?
I heard anabolic steroids and stuff like DNP and ephedrine and etc. can somewhat enable one to eat more and get away with it without much or any fat gain, despite eating more than the body would ...
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Is it possible to stop more/extra fat from being stored in the body?
I don't mean simply by restricting eating or upping the activities, but a way to basically stop the body from adding more fat on itself down on the bio level. For example, I'm not too knowledgeable on ...
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What is the difference between Warburg effect and Crabtree effect in metabolism? [closed]
In addition to answering my question, please suggest a good review article that provides comparison of the above effects. Which pathways affect central carbon metabolism to produce these effects? Also,...
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What is the net effect of pancreatic somatostatin and how is it regulated?
I've read the following facts about pancreatic somatostatin released from delta cells of the islets of Langerhans:
Blood glucose, fatty acids, and plasma amino acids stimulate somatostatin
...
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2answers
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Why is urea not converted to ammonia in the body?
After the liver processes metabolites to produce urea and other by-products, these travel in the blood to the heart, then they are oxygenated, and some travel through the renal artery to the kidneys.
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Is there a relationship between HDL-C and LDL-C?
For a gentle introduction to cholesterol and its functions, see a great answer on SE Biology
Whenever I read about how to deal with cholesterol level, the rule is to keep a low LDL fraction, ad a ...
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Is homocysteine converted to glutathione during oxidative stress?
From the paper titled "The basis for folinic acid treatment in neuro-psychiatric disorders" by Ramaekers et al., 2016:
On the left side of the figure, the purine metabolite GTP serves as the ...
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How much energy does a spider expend per day just waiting for its web to vibrate?
Roughly speaking, a small, complex electronic circuit or IC might sit in "sleep mode" using a current of roughly 1 µA (e.g. 1, 2), thereby using roughly $3\times 10^{-6}$ Watts, and that ...
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How is Saccharomyces cerevisiae grown on acetate and ammonium able to produce TCA intermediates?
I am working with a metabolic model of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and I am studying its growth on acetate and ammonia. I am performing Flux Balance Analysis to compute the growth rate and then I am ...
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Is the lac operon repressed in the presence of both glucose and lactose?
In the presence of both sugars (glucose and lactose) will there be repression of the lac operon completely?
I know that more glucose means less cAMP --> less CAP --> less positive regulation, and ...
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1answer
44 views
What does differential consumption mean? [closed]
I have not been able to find any definition of differential consumption online. What does it mean in this quotation?
Vertebrates can influence natural fire regimes in several ways. First, ...
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What's the relationship between oxygen consumption and ambient oxygen concentration for a lobster?
I was looking at a research paper by Thomas (1954) and came across a graph with ambient oxygen concentration plotted against oxygen consumption rate of a European lobster kept in water.
As we can see,...
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What is the genetic background for fast metabolism?
I am wondering if it is possible that people with very fast metabolism have some genetic mutation. There are people who can eat a lot while others would definitely get fat with such a diet. In other ...
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What's the lowest temperature a tardigrade can remain active at?
There's a lot of information floating around the net about how tough they are & what they can survive, like "We now know that some tardigrades can tolerate being frozen to -272.8 °C".
But any ...
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What's the lowest atmospheric pressure a tardigrade can remain active in?
I'm not asking what atmospheric pressures they can survive (we now they can survive the vacuum of space) I'm wondering at what point a deficit of atmospheric pressure would cause them to enter one of ...
2
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1answer
64 views
Is there a name for the use of sunlight in metabolic processes?
"Photosynthesis" is what is used to describe how plants use sunlight to synthesize sugars, but, I also heard some animals like humans use sunlight in the process of creating vitamin D. Is there a ...
2
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1answer
142 views
Inhibition of beta-oxidation by acetyl- or malonyl-CoA
Which molecule, in excess, inhibits beta-oxidation?
a. Acetyl-CoA
b. Malonyl-CoA
The answer to this question seems debatable to me, as I think both are correct. However, according to my ...
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1answer
68 views
Since frogs are ectotherms and supposed to have low metabolic rate, why do they grow so fast and eat so much?
It's always emphasized in literature that endothermy enables high growth rates but requires more food.
But look at frogs, for example: bullfrogs, toads, pacman frogs etc. They would readily eat a ...
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When consuming carbohydrates and fats together, why are the fats caloric?
If I understand things, and I most likely don't: mammals primarily use carbohydrates to produce metabolic energy when there are sufficient carbohydrates to do so. The use of fats for fuel requires ...
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Where is ethanol detoxified? peroxisomes or smooth ER? Or both?
I am reading the textbook Biology (Campbell et al, 2005), and I am confused.
In Chapter 6.4, on page 104, it says that "In the smooth ER, other enzymes help detoxify drugs <...>", and alcohol is ...
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Why does pyruvate from lactate and pyruvate from other sources follow different pathways in gluconeogenesis?
My teacher taught me in a lecture that PEP forms from Pyruvate by two ways, based on their sources, that is -
1. If the Pyruvate was from lactate (by lactate dehydrogenase action), it gets shuttled ...
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Is gut bacteria Succinivibrionaceae's low methanogenesis understood well enough for GM of cattle gut bacteria to be considered?
After watching the Periodic Table of Videos episode linked in this question I watched the episode Wallabies and Methane where Sir Poliakoff says (a bit after 02:00):...
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Complete metabolic map of humans [closed]
Do we have the complete metabolic map for humans? Do we know from the genome what enzimes are expressed and what each enzime does?
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What is (are) the medium of conduction for an electrical current with an external source in the human body?
I am trying to get some background for some personal research I am doing into the effects of Electro Convulsive Therapy. I don't understand how electric current from an external household source, say, ...
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How cells determine how many enzymes are needed for digestion
How do pancreatic cells, epithelial cells of the stomach and intestinal epithelium cells determine the right amount of enzymes for digesting carbohydrates, proteins, fats?
How does the pancreas ...
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2answers
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Why is Cacao a stimulant?
As I write this I've just eaten a fair amount of cacao (not cocoa) powder and it's given me quite a buzz. I've googled the effects and the Internet seems to think it's somehow psychoactive although it'...
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How does a glucose molecule enter the cell from blood vessel?
The transporters in the plasma membrane of the cells promote the entry of glucose molecules from the extracellular matrix to the cytosol of the cell. Could someone explain how does the nutrient ...
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1answer
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Why is some scat in the form of little pellets?
The scat I most often encounter when out and about is from coyotes, black bears, deers and rodents. The deer and rodent droppings I find are in little pellets, what is different about their digestive ...
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2answers
129 views
How do anaerobic bacteria produce ATP for their own cellular activities?
Anaerobic bacteria utilise glycolysis:
Glucose + 2 P + 2 NAD+ => 2 ATP + 2 H + 2 NADH + 2 H2O + 2 Pyruvate
followed by fermentation:
Pyruvate + NADH => Lactate + NAD+
The resultant NAD+ formed ...
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1answer
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What determines the metabolic pathways that a biological cell is able to carry?
For example:
human cells (eukaryotes) can utilize the Krebs cycle pathway to generate more
ATP after glycolysis, but most bacteria cannot utilise the Krebs
cycle
plant cells can utilise the Calvin'...
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1answer
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Can the face bones be “compressed” or forced together? What would happen? [closed]
Say someone doesn't like that their maxilla bone is too long because the height of the maxilla affects the placement, position and angle of the mandible relatively.
If one were to apply mechanical ...
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1answer
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How would a medication cause a one to maintain a different weight?
This isn’t really a medical question, I’m just really curious about this.
I was maintaining weight A and then started taking a medication that brought me to weight B. While on the medication, I ...
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What waste products do cells secrete in culture, and at what rate?
I am designing microfluidic chips for mammalian cell culture. One aspect I am interested in modeling is the rate at which I must renew media to ensure that:
Cells receive enough nutrients
Cytotoxic ...
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1answer
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Can something like McDonalds be considered a life form?
"The current definition is that organisms are open systems that maintain homeostasis, are composed of cells, have a life cycle, undergo metabolism, can grow, adapt to their environment, respond to ...
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2answers
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If life began at sea, why organisms are less salty than the sea?
We may take it for granted that a fish, a seaweed, or clams are not too salty to eat, although the sea around them is salty. I know about the existence of a mechanism which prevents their body from ...
