Bioenergetics and Biological

Oxidation

Dr Naim
The inset shows
the first two
steps in the
catabolic
pathway that
breaks down
glucose.
Metabolic reactions are organized into pathways
that are orderly series of enzymatically-controlled
reactions.
 Metabolic pathways are generally of two types:
a. Catabolic pathways = Metabolic pathways which
release energy by breaking down complex molecules
to simpler compounds, (e.g. Cellular respiration
which degrades glucose to carbon dioxide and
water; provides energy for cellular work.)
 .
b. Anabolic pathways = Metabolic pathways which
consume energy to build complicated molecules
from simpler ones. (e.g. Photosynthesis which
synthesizes glucose from CO2 and H2O; any
synthesis of a macromolecule from its monomers.)

● Metabolic reactions may be coupled, so that

energy released from a catabolic reaction can be
used to drive an anabolic one:
Organisms transform energy

Energy = Capacity to do work.

Kinetic energy = Energy in the process of doing work
(energy of motion). For example:

 Heat (thermal energy) is kinetic energy expressed

in random movement of molecules.
 Light energy from the sun is kinetic energy which
powers photosynthesis.
 . matter possesses
Potential energy = Energy that
because of its location or structure (energy of
position). For example:

In the earth's gravitational field, an object on a hill

or water behind a dam have potential energy.

Chemical energy is potential energy stored in

molecules because of the structural arrangement of
the nuclei and electrons in its atoms.
Energy can be transformed from one form to
another.

For example:
Kinetic energy of sunlight can be transformed into
the potential energy of chemical bond during
photosynthesis.

Potential energy in the chemical bonds of gasoline

can be transformed into kinetic mechanical energy
which pushes the pistons of an engine.
 .

● Bioenergetics is the quantitative study of the

energy transduction that occur in living cells
and of the nature and function of the
chemical processes underlying these
transductions
 Bioenergetics

● Bioenergetics describes the transfer and utilization

of energy in biologic systems.

● It makes use of a few basic ideas from the field of

thermodynamics, particularly the concept of free
energy.

● Changes in free energy (ΔG) provide a measure of

the energetic feasibility of a chemical reaction and
can, therefore, allow prediction of whether a
reaction or process can take place.
The energy transformations of life are subject to two
laws of thermodynamics

Thermodynamics = Study of energy transformations.

First Law of Thermodynamics (Conservation of
energy) = Energy can be transferred and transformed,
but it cannot be created or destroyed (energy of the
universe is constant).
Second Law of Thermodynamics = Every energy
transfer or transformation makes the universe more
disordered (every process increases the entropy of
the universe).
Entropy = Quantitative measure of disorder that is
proportional to randomness (designated by the
letter S).

Maintain highly ordered structure at the expense of

increased entropy of their surroundings.
Take in complex high-energy molecules as food and
extract chemical energy to create and maintain order.
Return to the surroundings simpler low energy
molecules (CO2 and H2O) and heat.
 Free Energy: A Criterion For Spontaneous Change
Not all of a system's energy is available to do work. The
amount of energy that is available to do work is described
by the concept of free energy.
Free energy (G) is related to the system's total energy (H) and
its entropy (S) in the following way:
G = H – TS, where:
G = free energy (energy available to do work)
H = enthalpy or total energy
T = absolute temperature in °K (K= °C + 273)
S = entropy
Free energy (G) = Portion of a system's energy
available to do work when temperature is uniform
throughout the system.

 It is the difference between the total energy

(enthalpy) and the energy not available for doing
work (TS).

 It is a measure of a system’s instability: its

tendency to change to a more stable state.
 .
Systems that are rich in energy (high energy and
low entropy) are unstable, and tend to change
spontaneously to a more stable state.

● e.g. Separated charges, and compressed springs.

 In any spontaneous process, the free energy of a

system decreases:
 Enthalpy

● Enthalpy (ΔH) is a measure of the change in heat

content of the reactants and products.

● It reflects the number and kinds of chemical

bonds in the reactants and products.
 .

● Negative ΔH: When a chemical reaction releases

heat, it is said to be exothermic; the heat content of
the products is less than that of the reactants and
ΔH has, by convention, a negative value.

● Positive ΔH: Reacting systems that take up heat

from their surroundings are endothermic and have
positive values of ΔH.
 Negative ΔG
● If ΔG is a negative
number, there is a net
loss of energy, and the
reaction goes
spontaneously – that is,
A is converted into B.

● The reaction is said to be

exergonic.
 Positive ΔG
● If ΔG is a positive
number, there is a net
gain of energy, and the
reaction does not go
spontaneously from B
to A.
● The reaction is said to
be endergonic, and
energy must be added
to the system to make
the reaction go from B
to A.
 Exergonic Reaction Endergonic Reaction

Chemical products have less free Products store more free energy
energy than the reactant than reactants.
molecules.

Reaction is energetically downhill Reaction is energetically uphill.

Spontaneous reaction. Non-spontaneous reaction

(requires energy input).

∆G is negative. ∆G is positive.

–∆G is the maximum amount of +∆G is the minimum amount of

work the reaction can perform work required to drive the
reaction.
 ΔG is zero

● If ΔG = 0, the reactants are in equilibrium.

● When a reaction is proceeding spontaneously

– that is, free energy is being lost – then the
reaction continues until ΔG reaches zero and
equilibrium is established.
 Applications of Bioenergetics
● Knowledge of bioenergetics helps in the understanding
of
● obesity
● hyperthyroidism
● myocardial infarction.
● It also explains how the human beings able to
maintain body temperature.

● Bioenergetics is the basis for

(i) calculating the person’s daily requirement of energy,
which is dependent on height, weight and the work one
does, and

(ii) recommending the amount and type of food intake.

 ATP powers cellular work by coupling exergonic
reactions to endergonic reactions

 A cell does three main kinds of work:

Mechanical work, beating of cilia, contraction of
muscle cells, and movement of chromosomes
Transport work, pumping substances across
membranes against the direction of spontaneous
movement
Chemical work, driving endergonic reactions
such as the synthesis of polymers from
monomers.
 In most cases, the immediate source of energy that
powers cellular work is ATP.
 A. The Structure and Hydrolysis of ATP
• ATP (adenosine triphosphate): Nucleotide with
unstable phosphate bonds that the cell hydrolyzes
for energy to drive endergonic reactions.
When the terminal phosphate bond is hydrolyzed,
an inorganic
phosphate group [(P)i] is removed producing ADP
(adenosine diphosphate):
ATP + H2O ADP + (P)i
 Under standard conditions in the laboratory, this
exergonic reaction releases 7.3 kcal of energy per
mole of ATP hydrolyzed: ∆G = – 7.3 kcal/mol
In a living cell, this reaction releases –13
kcal/mol, about 77% more than under standard
conditions.
 While the phosphate bonds of ATP are sometimes
referred to as high-energy phosphate bonds, these
are actually fairly weak covalent bonds.

 They are unstable however and their hydrolysis

yields energy as the products are more stable.

 The phosphate bonds are weak because each of the

three phosphate groups has a negative charge

 Their repulsion contributes to the instability of this

region of the ATP molecule.
 Reactions are coupled through common
intermediates
● The simplest example of energy coupling in biologic
reactions occurs when the energy-requiring and the
energy-yielding reactions share a common
intermediate.