MBB 222 Chapter Notes - Chapter 1: Argininosuccinate Synthase, Urea Cycle, Metabolic Pathway
20 Dec 2018
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Document Summary
Small biomolecules serve as both reactants and products in biochemical reactions within cells reactions necessary for life-sustaining processes. In this context, we refer to these molecules as metabolites. The catalysts that drive these biochemical reactions are enzymes, which consist of protein or rna macromolecules. In enzyme-mediated reactions, the products of one reaction are often the reactants for other functionally related reactions. Indeed, the thousands of reactions required for sustaining life in a cell are interdependent and highly regulated to maximize efficient use of limited metabolic resources. The emerging discipline of systems biology attempts to describe complex chemical reaction networks in cells. This approach uses mathematical models that reflect metabolic flux (the rate at which reactants and products are interconverted in a metabolic pathway) in response to environmental or physiologic conditions. Formulation of accurate models is extremely difficult because of current limitations in measurement of metabolite concentrations inside living cells.
