Recall that glycolysis takes place in the cytosol and that pyruvate decarboxylation and the TCA cycle occurs in the matrix of the mitochondria. The final step in cellular respiration that I will discuss here is oxidative phosphorylation or the electron transport chain (ETC). It occurs in the inner membrane of the mitochondria. The purpose the […]
Cellular respiration takes place in three phases. We have glycolysis, the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle (or fermentation of there is limited oxygen), and then the electron transport chain where the bulk of ATP is produced. I will discuss glycolysis here. The word glycolysis comes from ‘glyco’ which refers to glucose and ‘lysis’ which means to […]
Digestion of carbohydrates begins in the mouth where salivary amylase converts starch to dextrins and maltose. After the mouth, food travels to the stomach where carbohydrates remain unchanged due to denaturation of salivary amylase. The optimal pH of alpha amylase is 7. Hence, it is not able to survive the very low pH of the […]
A titration curve of an amino acid tracks how the pH changes and how the amino acid looks at different pH values as a strong base (OH equivalents) is added. Two important points to recognize on a titration curve are the: 100% deprotonation points; the points where enough base is added to deprotonate all the […]
The isoelectric point is the point at which the net charge of the amino acid or protein is zero. You have learned how to determine the pI of amino acids. Finding the pI of peptides follow a similar process. Step 1: Write out the pKa values of the amino acid from low to high Step […]
The isoelectric point of an amino acid or protein is the pH at which the net charge is zero. Determining pI When There Is No Ionizable Side Chain If the amino acid does not have any ionizable side chain, then you can determine the pI by simply averaging the pKa of the amino and carboxylic […]
