Overview of Metabolism

This lecture was a nice little refresher on concepts from 1st and 2nd year. Enjoy :)

Explain the processes of cellular energy generation - the three phases of metabolism and the cell compartments involved.

The phases mentioned in the lecture are glycolysis (in the cytosol), the citric acid cycle (in the mitochondria) and oxidative phosphorylation (in the inner membrane of the mitochondria). I've blogged about all of these before, so here are some posts that explain each of these processes:

• Glycolysis and the citric acid cycle- Cellular Respiration and Protein Synthesis
• Oxidative phosphorylation- Cell Biology- Introduction and Energy Production

Explain the relationship between anabolic and catabolic reactions and the energy requirements of the cell.

See earlier post: Cellular Respiration and Protein Synthesis

Explain redox potentials.

See earlier posts: Basics of Redox and Redox again- Electrolytic cells and some other stuff

Understand the role of activated carrier molecules.

The carrier molecules covered in this lecture were NADH, NADPH, FADH₂ and acetyl CoA. I've covered the first three in an earlier post: Overview of How the Cell Works. Acetyl CoA (acetyl coenzyme A) has a high-energy bond which facilitates the transfer of two carbon atoms to another molecule. This is important in processes such as fat anabolism, as mentioned here.