MARIA LILIBETH S.
FUERTES
Master Teacher I
Scientists use the term bioenergetics to discuss the
concept of energy flow through living systems, such as
cells. Cellular processes such as the building and breaking
down of complex molecules occur through stepwise
chemical reactions. Some of these chemical reactions are
spontaneous in releasing energy; others require energy to
proceed.
Just as organisms must continually consume food to
replenish what has been used, cells must continually
produce more energy to replenish what is used by the many
energy-requiring chemical reactions that constantly take
place.
Virtually every task performed by organisms
requires energy. In fact, the cells of every organism
constantly use energy. Nutrients and other molecules
are imported, metabolized (broken down) and
possibly synthesized into new molecules, modified if
needed, transported around the cell, and may be
distributed to the entire body of the organism. Just as
energy is required to both build and demolish a
building, energy is required for both the synthesis and
breakdown of molecules.
Cellular processes require a steady supply of
energy. Energy production within a cell involves many
coordinated chemical pathways. Most of these
pathways are combinations of oxidation and
reduction reactions. Oxidation and reduction occur
in tandem. An oxidation reaction strips an electron
from an atom in a compound, and the addition of this
electron to another compound is a reduction reaction.
Because oxidation and reduction usually occur
together, these pairs of reactions are called oxidation-
reduction reactions, or redox reactions.
ATP
ATP is often called the “energy currency” of the
cell, and, like currency, this versatile compound
can be used to fill any energy need of the cell.
When ATP is broken down, usually by the
removal of its terminal phosphate group, energy
is released. The energy is used to do work by the
cell, usually by the released phosphate binding
to another molecule, activating it.
ATP Structure and Function
Adenosine triphosphate is comprised of
adenosine bound to three phosphate groups. At
the heart of ATP is a molecule of adenosine
monophosphate (AMP), which is composed of
an adenine molecule bonded to a ribose
molecule and to a single phosphate group.
Ribose is a five-carbon sugar found in RNA,
and adenine is one of the nucleotides in RNA.
The addition of a second phosphate group to
this core molecule results in the formation of
adenosine diphosphate (ADP); the addition
of a third phosphate group forms adenosine
triphosphate (ATP). The three phosphate
groups, in order of closest to furthest from the
ribose sugar, are labeled alpha, beta, and
gamma. Together, these chemical groups
constitute an energy powerhouse.
ATP is the primary
energy currency of the
cell. it has an adenosine
backbone with three
phosphate groups
attached. The
phosphoanhydride
bonds that link the
phosphate groups are
high-energy bonds.
STRUCTURE OF ATP
However, not all bonds within this molecule
exist in a particularly high-energy state. The bonds
that link the phosphates are equally high-energy
bonds (phosphoanhydride bonds) that when
broken, release sufficient energy to power a
variety of cellular reactions and processes. These
high-energy bonds are the bonds between the
second and third (or beta and gamma) phosphate
groups and between the first and second
phosphate groups.
Energy from ATP
Hydrolysis is the process of breaking complex
macromolecules apart. During hydrolysis, water is
split, or lysed, and the resulting hydrogen atom (H )
+
and a hydroxyl group (OH-) are added to the larger
molecule. The hydrolysis of ATP produces ADP,
together with an inorganic phosphate ion (P ), and
i
the release of free energy:
Like most chemical reactions, the hydrolysis of ATP
to ADP is reversible. The reverse reaction
regenerates ATP from ADP + P . Indeed, cells rely
i
on the regeneration of ATP just as people rely on
the regeneration of spent money through some sort
of income. Since ATP hydrolysis releases energy,
ATP regeneration must require an input of free
energy. The formation of ATP is expressed in this
equation:
To carry out life processes, ATP is continuously broken
down into ADP, and ADP is continuously regenerated into
ATP by the reattachment of a third phosphate group. Water,
which was broken down into its hydrogen atom and hydroxyl
group during ATP hydrolysis, is regenerated when a third
phosphate is added to the ADP molecule, reforming ATP. To
regenerate ATP, energy must be infused into the system. In
nearly every living thing on earth, the energy comes from the
metabolism of glucose. In this way, ATP is a direct link
between the limited set of exergonic pathways of glucose
catabolism and the multitude of endergonic pathways that
power living cells.
Phosphorylation
Enzymes may bind to several substrates that react with
each other on the enzyme, forming an intermediate
complex. An intermediate complex is a temporary
structure, and it allows one of the substrates (such as ATP)
and reactants to more readily react with each other; in
reactions involving ATP, ATP is one of the substrates and
ADP is a product. During an endergonic chemical reaction,
ATP forms an intermediate complex with the substrate and
enzyme in the reaction. This intermediate complex allows
the ATP to transfer its third phosphate group, with its
energy, to the substrate, a process called phosphorylation
When the intermediate
complex breaks apart, the
energy is used to modify the
substrate and convert it into a
product of the reaction. The
ADP molecule and a free
phosphate ion are released
into the medium and are
available for recycling through
cell metabolism
Substrate - level Phosphorylation
ATP is generated through two mechanisms during the
breakdown of glucose. A few ATP molecules are
generated as a direct result of the chemical reactions
that occur in the catabolic pathways. A phosphate
group is removed from an intermediate reactant in the
pathway, and the free energy of the reaction is used to
add the third phosphate to an available ADP molecule,
producing ATP.
Substrate - level Phosphorylation
This very direct method of
phosphorylation where free
energy of the reaction is used
to add the third phosphate to
an available ADP molecule,
producing ATP is called
substrate-level
phosphorylation.
Oxidative Phosphorylation
Most of the ATP generated during glucose catabolism is
derived from a much more complex process called
chemiosmosis, which takes place in mitochondria within
a eukaryotic cell or the plasma membrane of a
prokaryotic cell. Chemiosmosis, a process of ATP
production in cellular metabolism, is used to generate
90% of the ATP made during glucose catabolism and is
also the method used in the light reactions of
photosynthesis to harness the energy of sunlight.
The production of
ATP using the
process of
chemiosmosis is
called oxidative
phosphorylation in
which electrons from
food molecules is
transferred to
molecular oxygen.
Activity : Copy and answer ½ crosswise. Pls. submit to Ma’am Kate Nicole Monteclaro. Thanx
In order to maintain all the processes in living systems, energy
must be properly maintained and managed. A living system
obtains energy by (1) or removing electrons from sources of food
and energy. These electrons are transferred to electron carrier
molecules, which in turn are (2) when these receive the electrons.
A common electron carrier is (3). The cell has its own energy
currency in the form of (4) . This molecule stores chemical energy
in its (5) bonds. When these bonds are broken, energy is released.
The energy can be used to promote chemical reactions that are
not (6). Alternatively, the phosphates can be transferred to
proteins or other substrates through (7), which cause a change in
their conformation, enabling them to perform useful work.
THE END
References:
Hinkle, P. C., and R. E. McCarty. How cells make ATP. Sci. Amer. 238 (March 1978): 104.
Ingwall, J. S. ATP and the Heart. New York: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 2002.
https://www.khanacademy.org/science/biology/energy-and-enzymes/atpreaction-coupling/a/atp-and reaction-coupling
General Biology 1 Textbook pp.144-147 by G.M.M. Belardo et.al.
