Biology / Unit 4 Bio 0811 short lesson, about 20 seconds
Signal Transduction Can Alter Metabolism: the Epinephrine Case
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The idea
A signaling pathway can alter a cell's metabolism directly, without touching gene expression, by phosphorylating existing metabolic enzymes.
In practice
Epinephrine raises cyclic AMP in muscle cells, and the resulting phosphorylation both activates glycogen breakdown and blocks glycogen synthesis at once.
Where people slip
Epinephrine is also called adrenaline. The pathway alters existing enzyme activity, not the genes encoding them, so the effect is immediate.
Your place on the trail
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