BIOENERGETICS

HOW THE BODY CONVERTS FOOD TO ENERGY

Geromil J. Lara, RMT, MSMT

METABOLISM

•Is the sum total of all the chemical reactions

involved in maintaining the dynamic state of
the cell
• Metabolic Reactions
• Those in which molecules are broken down to
provide the energy needed by cells –
• Those that synthesize the compounds needed
by cells –
METABOLISM

•Biochemical Pathway
• Is a series of consecutive biochemical reactions
• Carbohydrates
• Lipids
• Proteins

• Common Catabolic Pathway

• To convert the chemical energy in food to molecules
of ATP
METABOLISM

•Principal Compounds of the Common

Catabolic Pathway
• Common Catabolic Pathway

• Citric Acid Cycle

• Oxidative Phosphorylation Pathway

METABOLISM

•Principal Compounds of the Common

Catabolic Pathway
• Agents for Storage of Energy and Transfer of
Phosphate Groups
METABOLISM

•Principal Compounds of the Common

Catabolic Pathway
• Agents for Transfer of Electrons in Biological
Oxidation-Reduction Reactions
• Coenzymes
METABOLISM

•Principal Compounds of the Common

Catabolic Pathway
• Agent for Transfer of Acetyl Groups

• Coenzyme A
CATABOLISM

•Stage I: Hydrolysis of Dietary

Macromolecules into Small Subunits

• To degrade large food molecules into their

component subunits
• Simple sugars, amino acids, fatty acids, and glycerol

• Digestive processes
CATABOLISM

•Stage II: Conversion of Monomers into a

Form that can be Completely Oxidized
• Monosaccharides, amino acids, and glycerol are
assimilated into the pathways of energy
metabolism
CATABOLISM

•Stage II: Conversion of Monomers into a

Form that can be Completely Oxidized
• Sugars – usually enter the glycolysis pathway in
the form of glucose or fructose
• Eventually converted to acetyl-CoA, which can be
completely oxidized in the citric acid cycle
CATABOLISM

•Stage II: Conversion of Monomers into a

Form that can be Completely Oxidized
• Amino groups – are removed from amino acids
• Remaining carbon skeletons enter the catabolic
processes at many steps of the citric acid cycle
CATABOLISM

•Stage II: Conversion of Monomers into a

Form that can be Completely Oxidized

• Fatty acids – are converted to acetyl-CoA and

enter the citric acid cycle in that form
CATABOLISM

•Stage II: Conversion of Monomers into a

Form that can be Completely Oxidized
• Glycerol – produced by the hydrolysis of fats
• Converted to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate (one of
the intermediates of glycolysis)
• Enters energy metabolism
CATABOLISM

•Stage III: The Complete Oxidation of

Nutrients and the Production of ATP
• Acetyl CoA – carries 2-carbon remnants of the
nutrients, acetyl groups, to the citric acid cycle
• Electrons and hydrogen atoms are harvested
during the complete oxidation of the acetyl group
to CO2
• Used in the process of oxidative phosphorylation
to produce ATP
(1) GLYCOLYSIS

• Also known as the Embden-Meyerhof Pathway

• A pathway for carbohydrate catabolism that begins
with the substrate D-glucose
• Anaerobic process
• 10 steps

• 3 Major Products
ENZYME MNEMONICS
PENTOSE PHOSPHATE PATHWAY

• An alternative pathway for glucose oxidation

• It provides the cell with energy in the form of
reducing power for biosynthesis
• NADPH is produced in the oxidative stage
• Reducing agent required for many biosynthetic pathways

• Provides sugar phosphates that are required for biosynthesis

• Most active in tissues involved in cholesterol and fatty acid
biosynthesis