Saturday, January 16, 2010

Describe how a negative feedback mechanism can help control a metabolic pathway.?

A negative feedback mechanism would inhibit the production of a hormone such as insulin or glucagon. If the blood sugar level rose to high the mechanism would inhibit glucagon release and cause release of insulin.Describe how a negative feedback mechanism can help control a metabolic pathway.?
negative feedback is when the product of a reaction comes back and inhibits its own production. Lots of things are regulated this way. The first step in the glycolytic pathway is regulated by negative feedback. Hexokinase catalyzes the production of glucose-6-phosphate from glucose. However, glucose 6 phosphate inhibits hexokinase. So hexokinase stops until g6p is depleted, and then it can make more.

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