Metabolic Biochemistry Terms

These flashcards cover key terms and concepts from metabolic biochemistry focused on pathways, enzymatic functions, and metabolic processes.

Metabolic pathway

A series of chemical reactions occurring within a cell to convert a substrate into a product.

Metabolite

A substance produced during metabolism.

Metabolome

The complete set of metabolites within a biological sample.

Metabolomics

The scientific study of chemical processes involving metabolites.

Catabolism

The breakdown of larger molecules into smaller units, releasing energy.

Anabolism

The synthesis of larger molecules from smaller ones, requiring energy.

L-amino acid

A form of amino acid that is biologically active and participates in protein synthesis.

Peptide bond

A covalent bond formed between two amino acids during protein formation.

C-terminus

The end of a protein or polypeptide chain that has a free carboxyl group.

N-terminus

The end of a protein or polypeptide chain that has a free amino group.

Alpha helix

A right-handed coiled conformation of a polypeptide chain.

Beta sheet

A secondary protein structure where two or more strands of the polypeptide chain are aligned.

Cofactor

A non-protein chemical compound that is required for the biological activity of a protein.

Enzyme

A biological catalyst that speeds up a chemical reaction.

Activation energy (DG‡)

The minimum energy required for a chemical reaction to occur.

Michaelis-Menten equation

An equation that describes the rate of enzyme-catalyzed reactions.

Ligand

A molecule that binds to another (typically larger) molecule.

Kd

The dissociation constant, a measure of the affinity between a ligand and its protein.

Ligand saturation fraction (L/(L + Kd))

The fraction of a binding site that is occupied by a ligand.

Chymotrypsin

A digestive enzyme that cleaves peptide bonds.

Hydrophobic pocket

A region in a protein's active site that is non-polar and attracts hydrophobic substrates.

Allosteric enzyme

An enzyme whose activity is regulated by the binding of a molecule at a site other than the active site.

Gibbs free energy

A thermodynamic quantity that can be used to predict the favorability of a reaction.

Oxidation

A reaction that involves the loss of electrons from a molecule.

Reduction

A reaction that involves the gain of electrons by a molecule.

Substrate-level phosphorylation

The direct transfer of a phosphate group to ADP from a donor molecule.

Fermentation

A metabolic process that converts sugar to acids, gases, or alcohol in the absence of oxygen.

NAD/NADH

A coenzyme that functions as an electron carrier in metabolic reactions.

Kinase

An enzyme that catalyzes the transfer of a phosphate group.

Glycolysis

A metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate, producing ATP.

Pentose Phosphate pathway (PPP)

A metabolic pathway parallel to glycolysis that generates NADPH and ribose 5-phosphate.