Daily Positivity

Have you ever wondered how your muscles contract? How the muscles allow you to run, walk, write or even digest your food? It is all thanks to the muscle contraction mechanism which involves an important neurotransmitter known as “Acetylcholine.” Let us dive into some brief details about this process. Now you might wonder where does our enzyme of the month-Acetylcholinesterase falls into this sweet muscle contraction story. Do not worry we will be going over our enzyme of the month and its importance.              An important aspect of muscle contraction is the generation of the action potential. How is this action potential generated? The answer is the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine. When this neurotransmitter binds to the receptor, the process of muscle contraction begins. If you want to explore the complexity of the muscle contraction, please refer to the image below:  Image citation link: http://legacy.owensboro.kc...

  I hope you enjoyed reading about DNA polymerase last month! This month we are discussing an essential enzyme also known as Rubisco. We have to respect this mighty enzyme which happens to be the most abundant enzyme on this planet. Without this plant enzyme, planet Earth would have no life. Hence, dedicating a blog to this ultra-important enzyme makes sense, right?  RuBisCo or Ribulose biphosphate carboxylase/oxygenase is found in the plants and is a major enzyme in the process of photosynthesis. We will first briefly go over the process of photosynthesis. Ideally, photosynthesis is the reverse pathway to cellular respiration (refer to the January edition of the blog to understand cellular respiration). Unlike cellular respiration which is a catabolic (breaking down the energy source) pathway, photosynthesis is an anabolic pathway (synthesizing an energy source) that synthesizes glucose from water and carbon dioxide. The reaction formula of photosynthesis is as follows: 6...

  We all know that little kids grow with time, we also know that a skin injury is healed when healthy skin is replaced. Do we know how little children grow up physically? Or do we know how new skin grows? The simple answer is that the cell replicates. In order to replicate, the genetic material needs to be copied. It is a complex process that involves various enzymes. The star of this process is the enzyme DNA polymerase. Before we dive into DNA polymerase, we will describe the process of DNA replication. 

The enzyme I would like to introduce you to in January is a liver enzyme called Alanine Aminotransferase. It is a very crucial enzyme in cellular respiration. The purpose of cellular respiration is to produce energy in the form of a chemical molecule known as ATP.  Many biochemical pathways are involved in cellular respiration. Examples of animal cellular energy pathways include Glycolysis 1 and Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA) 2 .