Lecture Review: Metacognition, Cytoskeleton, and Energy & Enzymes

Flashcards covering key concepts from lecture notes on academic policy, metacognition, cytoskeletal components and related disorders, fundamental principles of energy, thermodynamics, Gibbs free energy, and redox reactions.

Myosin

A motor protein involved in cell crawling, interacting with actin filaments.

Kinesin

A motor protein that moves cargo towards the plus-end of microtubules.

Dynein

A motor protein that moves towards the minus-end of microtubules, transporting vesicles, organelles, and involved with cilia/flagella movement.

Intermediate Filaments

Cytoskeletal filaments made of various proteins (e.g., lamins, keratin); less dynamic, no polarity, providing mechanical strength and maintaining cell/nuclear shape.

Lamins

Proteins that form the nuclear intermediate filament lamina.

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome (HGPS)

A childhood disorder caused by mutations in lamin proteins, leading to aberrant cell nucleus morphology and premature aging.

Energy

The capacity to do work; the ability to move or elicit change.

Photon

A packet of light energy that has no mass.

Enthalpy (H)

The internal or system energy, derived from the Greek 'to warm within'.

Potential Energy

Stored energy due to location or chemical structures, like chemical bonds.

Chemical Potential Energy

Energy stored in chemical bonds due to the specific arrangement of atoms.

Kinetic Energy

Energy associated with motion.

Thermal Energy

A type of kinetic energy within a system responsible for its temperature due to particle movement and motion.

Heat

The flow of thermal energy.

First Law of Thermodynamics

Energy cannot be created or destroyed but only converted from one form to another; also known as the conservation of energy.

Second Law of Thermodynamics

The entropy of a system and the surroundings will increase; energy spontaneously disperses from being localized to becoming spread out.

Entropy (S)

A measure of energy dispersal in a system; the part of system energy that is associated with the system and unavailable for work. It increases with more volume, more molecular motion, or more molecules.

Gibbs Free Energy (G)

The portion of a system's energy that is available to do work (convertible energy).

Change in Free Energy (ΔG)

The difference between the final and initial states of Gibbs Free Energy (Gproducts - Greactants), indicating if a reaction is spontaneous or requires energy.

Exergonic Reaction

A spontaneous chemical reaction that releases energy (ΔG < 0), where reactants have higher free energy than products.

Endergonic Reaction

A nonspontaneous chemical reaction that requires an input of energy (ΔG > 0), where reactants have lower free energy than products.

Equilibrium (reactions)

The state where reactions in a closed system reach a balance, and ΔG = 0, meaning no net work can be done.

Coupled Reactions

A process where an endergonic reaction is driven by the energy released from an exergonic reaction, such as ATP hydrolysis.

ATP (adenosine triphosphate) Hydrolysis

An exergonic reaction that releases energy by breaking a phosphate bond (ΔG = -7.3 kcal/mol), often coupled to power endergonic processes.

Reduction-Oxidation (Redox) Reactions

Chemical reactions that involve the transfer of electrons, always occurring together as two half-reactions.

Oxidation

The loss of an electron(s) or H+; an exergonic half-reaction. (OIL: Oxidation Is Loss of electron)

Reduction

The gain of an electron(s) or H+; an endergonic half-reaction. (RIG: Reduction Is Gain of electron)

Active Carrier Molecules

Molecules like ATP, FADH2, and NADH that store and transfer energy in metabolic processes.

Catabolic Reactions

Metabolic reactions that break down complex molecules into simpler ones, typically releasing energy.

Anabolic Reactions

Metabolic reactions that build complex molecules from simpler ones, typically requiring energy input.