BIOCHEMISTRY  

Instructor: LE HONG PHU  

Date of submission: October 19, 2022 

HOMEWORK 7  

Student's Information: 
Name  ID Student 

Mai Lê Chí Bảo  BTBTWE21068

Biochemistry is a highly diverse subject in terms of knowledge. It will include all biochemical
reactions occurring in the human body in particular and the species in general. Indeed, on
Wednesday (October 12, 222) we were introduced to a whole new chapter, no longer about
catalyzed reactions or enzyme applications but rather about metabolism processes in the body
of people. 

Since the knowledge of this metabolic chapter is so vast and varied, we were asked in the first
session only to be able to distinguish between catabolism and anabolism. Also, we need to
understand how to control a complete pathway. To distinguish between anabolism and
catabolism, we first need to understand the definition of metabolism. There are many different
definitions but we just need to remember that metabolism is a process of chemical changes that
convert nutrients into energy and the complex finished products of cells. Next, Professor
Phu told us about the function of metabolism. We had to answer a simple question that plays an
important role in metabolism: "Where does the energy that metabolism needs come from?".
After a series of answers given by students, Professor Phu concluded that sunlight and fuel
molecules are the two main energy sources of metabolism. In addition, metabolism has another
extremely important function in the body, which is converting nutrients into the precursor of cell
components. In addition, metabolism is capable of synthesizing energy-using precursors into
cellular components. Once we can clearly understand the definition and what is metabolism, this
is the stepping stone to the classification of metabolic processes that will become easier to
remember. Metabolism is divided into two main processes: catabolism and anabolism.
Professor Phu reminded us that students often make a mistake when distinguishing and
comparing these two processes. Because of this, it is very important to know the knowledge of
each process. Next, we will go into details of each process and the first is the process of
catabolism. To facilitate the process of memorization I have listed a few bullet points and these
bullet points will cover the main contents of the catabolism process.
 Catabolism: Degradative 
 Oxidative 
 Many → Few 
 Degradative pathways 
 Saving energy. 
 Decomposition of large molecules into lots of small molecules 
Along with the process of catabolism, the process of anabolism also plays a very important role.
And just like above, to facilitate memorization, I also used bullet points. 
 Anabolism: Biosynthetic 
  Reductive 
 Few → Large 
 Biosynthetic pathways
 Enrergy requirement. 
 Large molecules will be synthesized by lots of small molecules 
Next, Professor Phu showed us a diagram of the biochemical reactions that take place directly
in our human body. The number of reactions occurring is extremely large and has a very close
relationship with each other. The relationships between reactions are represented by a straight
line connecting the reactions. It is because of this that Professor Phu compared this diagram to
a complex electrical circuit that students of the Department of Electronics and
Telecommunications often learn. Through the diagram that Professor Phu showed us, we can
make the observation that acetyl CoA is at the heart of many different biochemical reactions.
And one of the main routes is from the Glycogen -> CAC cycle. Next, we learned about
substances that play an important role in metabolism. One of the indispensable things is ATP,
which is considered as an energy currency in most reactions. In addition, NADPH and NADH
are the two substances that we were acquainted with in the Enzyme chapter, which also play a
very important role in this metabolism. For example, NADH (related to form drugs) and NADPH
(related to lipids). 

In the later part of the class, we studied with the teacher's assistant sister. The part we studied
involved quite a lot of calculations and this part was extremely difficult so it required us to
concentrate. First, we are reminded of the definition and importance of Km. It has a very close
relationship to the place where it exists. For example, the low Km: the mitochondrial form, and
high Km: the cytoplasmic form. Next, we have to answer a question that is also considered a
challenge which is "What happens to enzyme activity if the normal concentration of substrate
changes". A series of answers were given by the students and in the end, the main answer was:
 Changing a little substrate concentration, it is also very sensitive, but it still has little
activity.
 Its activity is very high but it will not be sensitive.
 Activity and sensitivity are both at a sufficient level.
Moreover, we are introduced to different applicable formulas, and we also have the opportunity
to apply those formulas to solve problems.

The class that day was extremely interesting but equally challenging for math and formulas.
However, I feel that this is an interesting subject and the knowledge is very closely linked from
chapter to chapter.