Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Baguio
Section: BPED 1-A
Subject: Physiology of Exercise and Physical Activity (BPED 52)
Professor: Sir Gregorio C. Ramos Jr.
1. Name the German scientist who made a chance observation that Droved Louis
Pasteur was wrong. Explain and illustrate the issue.
In 1897, the German chemist, Eduard Buchner (1860—1917), demonstrated that
fermentation can be brought about using lifeless chemicals rather than living yeast. He
established that biochemical reactions are possible outside living cells. His discovery
led to him receiving the 1907 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. He made a chance observation
that proved Pasteur wrong. His discovery revolutionized the study of physiologic
systems and represented the beginning of the modern science of biochemistry.
Searching for therapeutic uses for protein, he concocted a thick paste of freshly grown
yeast and sand in a large mortar and pressed out the yeast cell juice. The gummy liquid
proved unstable and could not be preserved by techniques available at that time. One of
the laboratory assistants suggested adding a large amount of sugar to the mixture—his
wife used this technique to preserve fruit.
To everyone’s surprise, what seemed like a silly solution worked; the nonliving juice
from the yeast cells converted the sugar to carbon dioxide and alcohol (directly
contradicting Pasteur’s prevailing theorem). The epoch finding about non-cellular
fermentation earned Professor Buchner the 1907 Nobel Prize in chemistry.
2. Why is ATP’s function is amazing?
Adenosine Triphosphate is an especially important organic molecule found in all
living organisms. It consists of adenosine (the sugar ribose with the organic base
adenine) and three phosphate groups. The potential energy stored in the covalent bond
between the second and third phosphate groups is important to living organisms
because it provides the energy used in nearly all of the chemical reactions within cells.
ATP is often called the energy currency of cells because it is capable of both storing
and providing energy.
The function of ATP is amazing because in the variety of processes it powers in
all living cells. This ubiquitous compound is found in microorganisms, plants, and
animals ranging from nematodes to cockroaches and humans. Surprisingly, wherever
ATP is found, it is always in the same structure, regardless of the organism's
complexity.
ATP functions are amazingly use in several cellular processes. Some important
functions of ATP in the cell are briefly discussed below:
Active Transport
ATP plays a critical role in the transport of macromolecules such as proteins and
lipids into and out of the cell. The hydrolysis of ATP provides the required energy for
active transport mechanisms to carry such molecules across a concentration gradient.
Transport of molecules into the cell is called endocytosis whilst transport out of the cell
is known as exocytosis.
Cell Signaling
ATP has key functions both in intracellular and extracellular signaling. It is easily
recognized by purinergic receptors in mammalian tissues – its release from synapses
and axons activates purinergic receptors that modulate calcium and cyclic AMP levels
inside the cell.
In the central nervous system, adenosine modulates neural development, the
control of immune systems, and of neuron/glial signaling. ATP is also involved in signal
transduction – its phosphate groups are used up by kinases in phosphate transfer
reactions which activate a cascade of protein kinase reactions.
Structural Maintenance
ATP plays a very important role in preserving the structure of the cell by helping
the assembly of the cytoskeletal elements. It also supplies energy to the flagella and
chromosomes to maintain their appropriate functioning.
Muscle contraction
ATP is critical for the contraction of muscles; it binds to myosin to provide energy
and facilitate its binding to actin to form a cross-bridge. ADP and phosphate are then
released and a new ATP molecule binds to myosin. This breaks the cross-bridge
between myosin and actin filaments, thereby releasing myosin for the next contraction.