Related topics: type 2 diabetes , insulin resistance , diabetes , obesity , fat cells
Metabolism
hideMetabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms to maintain life. These processes allow organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into two categories. Catabolism breaks down organic matter, for example to harvest energy in cellular respiration. Anabolism, on the other hand, uses energy to construct components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids.
The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed into another by a sequence of enzymes. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable but thermodynamically unfavorable reactions by coupling them to favorable ones, and because they act as catalysts to allow these reactions to proceed quickly and efficiently. Enzymes also allow the regulation of metabolic pathways in response to changes in the cell's environment or signals from other cells.
The metabolism of an organism determines which substances it will find nutritious and which it will find poisonous. For example, some prokaryotes use hydrogen sulfide as a nutrient, yet this gas is poisonous to animals. The speed of metabolism, the metabolic rate, also influences how much food an organism will require.
A striking feature of metabolism is the similarity of the basic metabolic pathways between even vastly different species. For example, the set of carboxylic acids that are best known as the intermediates in the citric acid cycle are present in all organisms, being found in species as diverse as the unicellular bacteria Escherichia coli and huge multicellular organisms like elephants. These striking similarities in metabolism are most likely the result of the high efficiency of these pathways, and of their early appearance in evolutionary history.
For more information about Metabolism, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with cell metabolism
New clues to pancreatic cells' destruction in diabetes
Biology /
Feb 03, 2009 |
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Researchers have found what appears to be a major culprit behind the loss of insulin-producing β cells from the pancreases of people with diabetes, a critical event in the progression of the disease.
Could antioxidants make us more, not less, prone to diabetes? Study says yes
Oct 06, 2009 |
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We've all heard about the damage that reactive oxygen species (ROS) - aka free radicals - can do to our bodies and the sales pitches for antioxidant vitamins, skin creams or "superfoods" that can stop them. In fact, there ...
High-fat diets plus extra protein make for bad mix
Apr 07, 2009 |
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It's basically a given that diets loaded with fat can lead to considerable health problems. But a new study in the April issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, shows that in some cases diets that are high in bot ...
New model system may better explain regulation of body weight
Jan 14, 2009 |
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A new mathematical model of the physiological regulation of body weight suggests a potential mechanism underlying the difficulty of losing weight, one that includes aspects of two competing hypotheses of weight regulation. ...
Researchers show new antioxidant could help treat cardiovascular disease
Jun 29, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Glasgow believe they have found a potential new treatment for cardiovascular disease which reduces blood pressure.
Link between obesity and diabetes discovered
Jul 08, 2009 |
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A Monash University study has proven a critical link between obesity and the onset of Type 2 diabetes, a discovery which could lead to the design of a drug to prevent the disease.
Scientists identify roots of diabetic tissue damage
Oct 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Results from comprehensive assessments of diabetes' effects on cell metabolism may aid efforts to reduce diabetic damage to nerves, blood vessels and other tissues, according to researchers at Washington ...
To keep muscles strong, the 'garbage' has to go
Dec 01, 2009 |
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In order to maintain muscle strength with age, cells must rid themselves of the garbage that accumulates in them over time, just as it does in any household, according to a new study in the December issue of Cell Metabolism. In the ...
Molecule discovered that makes obese people develop diabetes
Nov 24, 2009 |
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Many people who are overweight or obese develop insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes at some stage in their lives. A European research team has now discovered that obese people have large amounts of the ...
Key protein in cellular respiration discovered
Apr 08, 2009 |
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Many diseases derive from problems with cellular respiration, the process through which cells extract energy from nutrients. Researchers at the Swedish medical university Karolinska Institutet have now discovered a new function ...
A 'spoonful of sugar' makes the worms' life span go down
Nov 03, 2009 |
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If worms are any indication, all the sugar in your diet could spell much more than obesity and type 2 diabetes. Researchers reporting in the November issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, say it might also b ...
New culprit behind obesity's ill metabolic consequences
Jul 07, 2009 |
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Obesity very often leads to insulin resistance, and now researchers reporting in the July 8 issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have uncovered another factor behind that ill consequence. The newly discovered culpri ...
A new molecule to combat diabetes and obesity
Sep 01, 2009 |
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Type 2 diabetes, the most common form of diabetes, is increasing at an alarming state with more than 180 million people affected worldwide. With the rising incidence of obesity, a major risk factor for the onset of type 2 ...
Natural Brain Substance Blocks Weight Gain in Mice
Biology /
Jan 28, 2009 |
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Mice with increased levels of a natural brain chemical don’t gain weight when fed a high-fat diet, researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found.
Scientists reveal mechanism that regulates cancer-causing gene
Mar 26, 2009 |
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Two University of Rhode Island scientists have revealed how a cancer causing protein is regulated by reactive oxygen species (ROS) -- a type of stress signal. Their findings provide new insight into how this protein normally ...
