Cellular Respiration With Sugar Interactions

Cellular respiration breaks sugar into forms that cells can use as energy. This process uses oxygen and sugar to make carbon dioxide(Co2), water, and Adenosine triphosphate (ATP). Cellular respiration begins with glycolysis, also known for splitting sugars. This molecule is found in the cytoplasm and occurs in the absence or presence of oxygen. Glycolysis converts six-carbon glucose into two three-carbon pyruvate molecules. During this stage, a small amount of NAD+ is converted to NADH and four ATP are made due to energy-harvesting reaction.

Glycolysis will release two pyruvates as its end product. The Citric acid cycle begins with acetyl CoA combining to a four carbon molecule that goes through a cycle of of reactions regenerating the four-carbon starting molecule. ATP, NADH, and FADH are produced and Co2 is released.

In the electron transport chain, two electrons from the oxidation of NADH and FADH occur in the inner mitochondrial membrane. The electrons begin in a high energy state and flow along a chain of electron receptors while releasing energy.

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This is is used to pump hydrogen ions across the membrane to maintain a higher concentration of hydrogen ions. The hydrogens are then pumped across the membrane that will be used in a reduction reaction with oxygen to form water and oxidize NADH. When electrons shuttle through protein complexes, hydrogen ions return through ATP synthase. ATP is made through oxidative phosphorylation meaning, energy is controlled through a series of protein complexes in the mitochondria to create ATP. This last process is known as ATP synthase.

The protons diffuse down their electrochemical gradient through an ATP synthase channel protein that allows ATP to be formed from ADP.

Fermentation turns nutrients into energy without oxygen. This process is different from cellular respiration because fermentation does not require oxygen, water molecules aren’t produced, occurs only in the cytoplasm of the cell, and produces a net gain of 2 ATP’s, while cellular respiration does the total opposite and has a net gain of 32 ATP’s. According to Otto Warburg, a German Biochemist, fermentation provides a backup for cellular respiration because it helps when oxygen can’t reach cells fast enough to keep up with its demands. Without fermentation, it wouldn’t be possible for ATP to be produced continually in the absence of oxygen.

Warburg studied cancer cells. He didn’t understand why rats were intaking large amounts of glucose and breaking it down without oxygen. He named this discovery the “Warburg Effect,” where cells are consuming extra glucose that are making patients more sick. This limits the number of ways a body can produce energy and support rapid growth. Cellular metabolism converts fuel into the food we eat and puts it into the energy needed to power everything we do. Without the fuel needed for our bodies, the cancer cells in our body will continue to grow.

There are possible solutions such as insulin. It allows cells to take up glucose, which can influence what goes on in a cell. Warburg believes it to be a hypothesis for helping this issue, but insulin’s effect on the metabolic pathway aren’t fully understood. Chi Van Dang, director of Abramson Cancer Center, combines molecular biology with metabolism and demonstrated a regulator gene that directly targets an enzyme that turns on the Warburg effect. Cancer cells never conserve, therefore Chi Van Dang believes by inhibiting enzymes we can find ways to slow down the growth of cancer cells.