Download Visualizing Biological Pathways

Visualizing Biological Pathways
By: Mark Samad and Ben Bispham
Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas Pathway
• Most common type of glycolysis.
Gustav Georg Embden
• German physiological chemist.
• Conduced studies on the chemistry of carbohydrate
metabolism and muscle contraction.
• Discovered and linked the steps of the conversion of glycogen
into lactic acid.
Otto Fritz Meyerhof
• Studied medicine at an early age.
• Graduated in 1909 and created a work entitled "Contributions
to the Psychological Theory of Mental Illness”.
• Awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine for his work on muscle
metabolism and glycolysis.
Jakub Karol Parnas
• Major work was the study of the mechanisms of carbohydrate
metabolism in muscle tissue.
• Discovered the process of phosphorolysis.
• Made a major contribution to the theoretical analysis of
glycolysis.
Prior Knowledge
• Louis Pasteur discovered that microorganisms are responsible
for fermentation in 1860.
• Eduard Buchner discovered that extracts of certain cells can
cause fermentation in 1897.
• Arthur Harden and William Young determined that a heatsensitive high-molecular-weight subcellular fraction (the
enzymes) and a heat-insensitive low-molecular-weight
cytoplasm fraction (ADP, ATP and NAD+ and other cofactors).
are required together for fermentation to proceed in 1905.
Experiment and Results
• Experiment 1: Used dissected livers of warm blooded animals
and learned of the synthesis of sugar from lactic acid (from
reduction of acid), and oxidative deanimation as a way to
break down amino acids. Conclusion: Liver is the most
important metabolic organ of the body.
• Experiment 2: Pressing of muscle tissue to extract fluids. After
examining many samples, first major step in glycolysis learned
(glucose must be esterfied with phosphate to be broken down
further).
What Do The Results Mean
• Found hexose diphosphate, later named lactacidogen.
• Steps of glycolysis were identified by analyzing the products of
the reaction.
• Lactic acid cycle was found to be undergone in anaerobic
environments.
References
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gustav_Embden
• http://nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/1922/
meyerhof-bio.html
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Otto_Fritz_Meyerhof
• http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakub_Karol_Parnas
• http://www.biologyreference.com/Ma-Mo/MetabolismCellular.html