A report on Protein, Cofactor (biochemistry) and Metabolism
A cofactor is a non-protein chemical compound or metallic ion that is required for an enzyme's role as a catalyst (a catalyst is a substance that increases the rate of a chemical reaction).
- Cofactor (biochemistry)The three main purposes of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks for proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the elimination of metabolic wastes.
- MetabolismSome proteins have non-peptide groups attached, which can be called prosthetic groups or cofactors.
- ProteinMany proteins are enzymes that catalyse biochemical reactions and are vital to metabolism.
- ProteinThese group-transfer intermediates are called coenzymes.
- MetabolismTherefore, these cofactors are continuously recycled as part of metabolism.
- Cofactor (biochemistry)4 related topics with Alpha
Enzyme
1 linksEnzymes are proteins that act as biological catalysts (biocatalysts).
Almost all metabolic processes in the cell need enzyme catalysis in order to occur at rates fast enough to sustain life.
In some enzymes, no amino acids are directly involved in catalysis; instead, the enzyme contains sites to bind and orient catalytic cofactors.
Yeast
1 linksYeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom.
Yeasts are eukaryotic, single-celled microorganisms classified as members of the fungus kingdom.
This ethanol is almost always produced by fermentation – the metabolism of carbohydrates by certain species of yeasts under anaerobic or low-oxygen conditions.
Nutritional yeast in particular is naturally low in fat and sodium and a source of protein and vitamins as well as other minerals and cofactors required for growth.
Yeast extract, made from the intracellular contents of yeast and used as food additives or flavours. The general method for making yeast extract for food products such as Vegemite and Marmite on a commercial scale is heat autolysis, i.e. to add salt to a suspension of yeast, making the solution hypertonic, which leads to the cells' shrivelling up. This triggers autolysis, wherein the yeast's digestive enzymes break their own proteins down into simpler compounds, a process of self-destruction. The dying yeast cells are then heated to complete their breakdown, after which the husks (yeast with thick cell walls that would give poor texture) are removed. Yeast autolysates are used in Vegemite and Promite (Australia); Marmite (the United Kingdom); the unrelated Marmite (New Zealand); Vitam-R (Germany); and Cenovis (Switzerland).
Nucleotide
0 linksNucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate.
Nucleotides are organic molecules consisting of a nucleoside and a phosphate.
Nucleotides also play a central role in metabolism at a fundamental, cellular level.
They provide chemical energy—in the form of the nucleoside triphosphates, adenosine triphosphate (ATP), guanosine triphosphate (GTP), cytidine triphosphate (CTP) and uridine triphosphate (UTP)—throughout the cell for the many cellular functions that demand energy, including: amino acid, protein and cell membrane synthesis, moving the cell and cell parts (both internally and intercellularly), cell division, etc. In addition, nucleotides participate in cell signaling (cyclic guanosine monophosphate or cGMP and cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cAMP), and are incorporated into important cofactors of enzymatic reactions (e.g. coenzyme A, FAD, FMN, NAD, and NADP+).
Enzyme kinetics
0 linksStudy of the rates of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions.
Study of the rates of enzyme-catalysed chemical reactions.
Studying an enzyme's kinetics in this way can reveal the catalytic mechanism of this enzyme, its role in metabolism, how its activity is controlled, and how a drug or a modifier (inhibitor or activator) might affect the rate.
An enzyme (E) is typically a protein molecule that promotes a reaction of another molecule, its substrate (S).
These measurements either use changes in the fluorescence of cofactors during an enzyme's reaction mechanism, or of fluorescent dyes added onto specific sites of the protein to report movements that occur during catalysis.