Question

All cells require energy to live. In your assigned reading for this week, you learned how cells generate and then utilize that energy through the metabolic process.

As our understanding of these mechanisms has improved, we have been able to apply that knowledge for our own benefit. For example, the aerobic and anaerobic respiration processes of various organisms have been harnessed by both the food and drinks companies and the waste/biofuels industries. Also, consider the impact of understanding the cause of a metabolic disease and the therapies we can use. These are just a few illustrations of a rather vast field of research.

For this Learning Journal, choose ONE of the areas mentioned above that you would like to learn more about and write two or three paragraphs describing the process and how it relates to metabolism within the cell. Provide at least one specific (named) example in your description and how our understanding of that particular disease/enzyme/cell type has been of benefit to us and if you consider the use of this knowledge to have a major impact on our everyday lives.

Example 1) you could describe the metabolic process of the bacteria that is used during cheese making, indicating the type of respiration that is happening during the process and the chemical reactions necessary for the formation of lactic acid.

Example 2) you could describe the mechanism of drugs such as the statins, which inhibit the function of the enzyme HMG-CoA reductase and so reduce the synthesis of cholesterol in the body. You could report the manner in which the inhibitors interact with their enzyme target, if they are allosteric or competitive and what the result of that inhibition is to the cell. (Try to pick an alternative example to statins).

Answer 1

Understanding various diseases,enzyme cell type have benefited in finding of many drugs and how they .Statin is one of the examples which is used widely today for treatment of cholesterol Statins have been clearly shown to reduce blood cholesterol and prevent atherosclerosis, or heart disease. They work by reducing the liver's production of cholesterol. They block an enzyme called HMG CoA Reductase that the liver uses to make cholesterol.

The beneficial effects of statins are the result of their capacity to reduce cholesterol biosyntesis, mainly in the liver, where they are selectively distributed, as well as to the modulation of lipid metabolism, derived from their effect of inhibition upon HMG‐CoA reductase. Statins have antiatherosclerotic effects, that positively correlate with the percent decrease in LDL cholesterol. In addition, they can exert antiatherosclerotic effects independently of their hypolipidemic action. Because the mevalonate metabolism generates a series of isoprenoids vital for different cellular functions, from cholesterol synthesis to the control of cell growth and differentiation, HMG‐CoA reductase inhibition has beneficial pleiotropic effects. Consequently, statins reduce significantly the incidence of coronary events, both in primary and secondary prevention, being the most efficient hypolipidemic compounds that have reduced the rate of mortality in coronary patients. Independent of their hypolipidemic properties, statins interfere with events involved in bone formation and impede tumor cell growth.

Statins work by competitively blocking the active site of the first and key rate-limiting enzyme in the mevalonate pathway, HMG-CoA reductase. Inhibition of this site prevents substrate access, thereby blocking the conversion of HMG-CoA to mevalonic acid