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 heat-sensitive 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/Metabolism-

Cellular.html