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Flashcards in Carbohydrates Deck (47)
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1
Q

What are the advantages to carbohydrates being hydrophilic?

A

water soluble
attract water
cannot pass easily across membranes
already partially oxidised so take less oxygen than fatty acids for complete oxidation

2
Q

Name the 3 disaccharides

A

lactose, maltose, sucrose

3
Q

What are oligosaccharides?

A

Carbohydrates that are 3-12 units in length

4
Q

Where is glycogen stored in the body?

A

Liver and muscle

5
Q

Which enzymes are attached to the brush border of epithelial cells in the small intestine?

A

lactase, sucrase, amylase, isomaltase

6
Q

How do monosaccharides enter cells?

A

Via facilitated diffusion using transport proteins (GLUT1-GLUT5)

7
Q

Which tissues can metabolise glucose?

A

All tissues

8
Q

What is the normal blood glucose concentration?

A

5mM

9
Q

Which tissues have an absolute requirement for glucose?

A
red blood cells
white blood cells
kidney medulla 
lens of eye
brain
10
Q

What is the net ATP production of glycolysis?

A

2 ATP molecules (net) per glucose

11
Q

Why are there so many steps in glycolysis?

A

the chemistry is easier in smaller stages
allows for efficient energy conservation
gives versatility (interconnections to other pathways)
can be controlled

12
Q

What is different about glycolysis in cancer?

A

The rate of glycolysis can be up to 200 times faster

13
Q

What is DHAP and what can it be converted to?

A

DHAP is an intermediate of glycolysis (one of the C3 molecules produced after cleavage)
DHAP can be converted to glycerol phosphate

14
Q

Where and for what is glycerol phosphate used?

A

adipose tissue and liver

important for triglyceride and phospholipid biosynthesis

15
Q

What is the role of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate?

A

important regulator of oxygen affinity of haemoglobin present in RBCs

16
Q

What are allosteric effectors?

A

Activators or inhibitors that bind to enzymes at a different site to the active site

17
Q

What product inhibits hexokinase in glycolysis?

A

glucose-6-phosphate

18
Q

Under what conditions is phosphofructokinase-1 increased in activity?

A

high AMP levels

high insulin levels

19
Q

Does a high insulin level increase or decrease the activity of pyruvate kinase?

A

It increases the activity (dephosphorylation so that ADP can be phosphorylated)

20
Q

Why can’t RBCs perform oxidative phosphorylation?

A

They don’t have any mitochondria

21
Q

Which enzyme converts pyruvate to lactate?

A

Lactate dehydrogenase

22
Q

Where is lactate normally metabolised?

A

In the liver and heart

23
Q

Define lactic acidosis

A

A high concentration of lactate in the blood (>5mM) which lowers the pH of the blood.

24
Q

Where is fructose metabolised?

A

In the liver

25
Q

What is the pathway for fructose metabolism and what are the enzymes that catalyse each stage?

A

Fructose -> Fructose-1-P (Fructokinase)

Fructose-1-P -> 2-Glyceraldehyde-3-P (Aldolase)

26
Q

What disease do we have if fructokinase is missing and how would we spot it?

A

essential fructosuria

fructose in the urine

27
Q

What disease do we have is aldolase missing and what does this lead to?

A

Fructose intolerance

Fructose-1-P accumulates in the liver and causes liver damage

28
Q

Where is galactose metabolised?

A

In the liver

29
Q

What 3 enzymes are involved in galactose metabolism?

A

galactokinase
galactose-1-P uridyl transferase
UDP-galactose 4’-epimerase

30
Q

Which enzymes can be deficient to cause galactosaemia?

A
galactokinase deficiency  (rare)
transferase deficiency  (common)
31
Q

In people with galactosaemia, what pathway does galactose enter?

A

galactose -> galactitol (aldose reductase)

NADPH reoxidised to NADP+

32
Q

Which organs are affected by the accumulation of galactose-1-P?

A

liver
kidney
brain

33
Q

Why is it a bad thing that the NADPH levels are depleted in galactosaemia?

A

lowered NADPH prevents the maintenance of free sulphdryl groups so inappropriate disulphide bonds are formed
this causes loss of structural and functional integrity in some proteins
Also more susceptible to oxidative damage as cannot reduced GSSG back to GSH as efficiently

34
Q

Which enzyme catalyses the conversion of glucose-6-P to a five carbon sugar?

A

glucose-6-P dehydrogenase

35
Q

What are the functions of the pentose phosphate pathway?

A

produce NADPH in the cytoplasm

produce five carbon sugars for nucleotides

36
Q

What is the general formula of a carbohydrate?

A

(CH2O)n

37
Q

What does pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency lead to?

A

Lactic acidosis

Because the pyruvate is converted into lactate instead

38
Q

How many oxidative steps does the TCA cycle have and how many of those steps release CO2?

A

4 oxidative steps

2 of them release CO2

39
Q

How are Krebs cycle enzymes inhibited?

A

Allosterically

40
Q

Does the Krebs cycle function in the absence of oxygen?

A

No

NADH and FAD2H will build up and allosterically inhibit the action of the enzymes

41
Q

At the electron transport chain the majority of the electrons’ energy is…

A

released as heat

42
Q

Which hydrogen carrier has a higher energy yield?

A

NADH

43
Q

What do uncouplers do?

A

Increase the permeability of the inner mitochondrial membrane to protons
the protons no longer need to pass through ATP synthase to move down their electrochemical gradient

44
Q

Give 2 examples of electron transport inhibitors

A

cyanide

carbon monoxide

45
Q

Give 3 examples of uncouplers

A

dinitrophenol
fatty acids
dinitrocresol

46
Q

Which protein is most significant in brown adipose tissue and what does it do?

A

Thermogenin (UCP-1)

It is a natural uncoupling protein that is used when the body requires extra heat generation

47
Q

How many molecules of ATP are synthesised from glucose in normal aerobic respiration?

A

32 moles ATP per glucose