News tagged with cell metabolism
When you eat matters: Study offers drug-free intervention to prevent obesity, diabetes
It turns out that when we eat may be as important as what we eat. Scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have found that regular eating times and extending the daily fasting period may override ...
Medical research
May 17, 2012 |
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Glucose deprivation activates feedback loop that kills cancer cells: study
Compared to normal cells, cancer cells have a prodigious appetite for glucose, the result of a shift in cell metabolism known as aerobic glycolysis or the "Warburg effect." Researchers focusing on this effect as a possible ...
Cancer
Jun 26, 2012 |
4.9 / 5 (16) |
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Biologists find potential drug that speeds cellular recycling
A University of Michigan cell biologist and his colleagues have identified a potential drug that speeds up trash removal from the cell's recycling center, the lysosome.
Medical research
Mar 13, 2012 |
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A new candidate pathway for treating visceral obesity
Brown seems to be the color of choice when it comes to the types of fat cells in our bodies. Brown fat expends energy, while its counterpart, white fat stores it. The danger in white fat cells, along with the increased risk ...
Medical research
May 06, 2012 |
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Diabetes drug metformin makes brain cells grow
The widely used diabetes drug metformin comes with a rather unexpected and alluring side effect: it encourages the growth of new neurons in the brain. The study reported in the July 6th issue of Cell Stem Cell also finds ...
Medical research
Jul 05, 2012 |
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Scientists create roadmap to metabolic reprogramming for aging
In efforts to understand what influences life span, cancer and aging, scientists are building roadmaps to navigate and learn about cells at the molecular level.
Medical research
Nov 29, 2012 |
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Cutting calories might help you live longer, but not without increased physical activity
Dietary restriction can slow age-related diseases and extend the lifespan of all species tested to date. Understanding this phenomenon might help people live longer, preferably without having to drastically limit calories. ...
Medical research
Jul 03, 2012 |
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Discovery of new hormone opens doors to new type 2 diabetes treatments
Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) researchers have discovered that a particular type of protein (hormone) found in fat cells helps regulate how glucose (blood sugar) is controlled and metabolized (used for energy) in ...
Diabetes
May 07, 2013 |
4.6 / 5 (8) |
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Exercise changes your DNA
You might think that the DNA you inherited is one thing that you absolutely can't do anything about, but in one sense you'd be wrong. Researchers reporting in the March issue of Cell Metabolism, a Cell Press publication, have f ...
Genetics
Mar 06, 2012 |
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New study shows that even your fat cells need sleep
In a study that challenges the long-held notion that the primary function of sleep is to give rest to the brain, researchers have found that not getting enough shut-eye has a harmful impact on fat cells, reducing by 30 percent ...
Medical research
Oct 15, 2012 |
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Cancer cell metabolism kills
Adenosine-5'-triphosphate (ATP) is the main energy source for all forms of work inside our cells. Scientists from the University of Helsinki, Finland, have found that even a short-term shortage of ATP supply ...
Cancer
Apr 15, 2013 |
5 / 5 (7) |
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Fighting fat with fat: Stem cell discovery identifies potential obesity treatment
Ottawa scientists have discovered a trigger that turns muscle stem cells into brown fat, a form of good fat that could play a critical role in the fight against obesity. The findings from Dr. Michael Rudnicki's ...
Medical research
Feb 05, 2013 |
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Protective gene in fat cells may lead to therapeutic for Type 2 diabetes
In a finding that may challenge popular notions of body fat and health, researchers at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) have shown how fat cells can protect the body against diabetes. The results may lead to a ...
Medical research
Apr 01, 2012 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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Hidden vitamin in milk yields remarkable health benefits
A novel form of vitamin B3 found in milk in small quantities produces remarkable health benefits in mice when high doses are administered, according to a new study conducted by researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College ...
Medical research
Jun 14, 2012 |
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Study finds important factor in fat storage and energy metabolism
As part of their ongoing research on the physiologic factors that contribute to the development of obesity, Joslin Diabetes Center scientists have identified a cell cycle transcriptional co-regulator – ...
Medical research
Jan 06, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (6) |
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Metabolism
Metabolism 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.
