LESSON 4

The Biochemical Processes: Understanding

Chemical Reactions in Biological Systems
Lifeless molecules are present in all living organisms. These molecules undergo
chemical reactions in the organisms, which are known collectively as metabolism. The
significant functions of metabolism are (1) acquisition and utilization of energy, (2)
formation of molecules needed for cell structure and functioning and (3) excretion of
waste products. To function correctly, it needs to maintain the right stable internal and
external environments.
 What is homeostasis? Why is it important?
The term homeostasis originated from the Greek words "homoios," which
means the same, and "stasis," which means steady or standing still. It refers to the
characteristic of a system that maintains the balance and stability between the internal
and external environment. The maintenance of homeostasis conditions is essential
because specific processes like osmosis and enzymes will not function properly in the
wrong body conditions. The body needs to control conditions such as temperature,
blood sugar level, and water content since different hormonal and nervous systems
control them.
The most common homeostasis is the regulation of body temperature. In
humans, the normal body temperature range falls at 37°Celsius. The body regulates
temperature by producing heat or releasing excess heat like when you produce sweat.
When the body temperature goes beyond 37°C, the person will get a fever. If it drops
below this limit, the person will get hypothermia.
Living organisms need to keep up homeostasis always in order to survive, grow,
and work properly. In general, homeostasis is necessary for normal cell function and
overall balance. In the human body, chemicals like Oxygen (O 2), Carbon dioxide (CO2),
and digested food enter and exit the cells using the concept called diffusion and
osmosis, which are biochemical processes. For these processes to function correctly,
homeostasis helps our body keep both water and salt balance levels.
There are three types of homeostatic regulation processes:
thermoregulation, osmoregulation, and chemical regulation. Thermoregulation is the
process transpiring inside the body responsible for maintaining the core temperature of
the body. Based on the example mentioned above, the body temperature should be

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constant at 37 °C. On the other hand, osmoregulation is the process of maintaining a
fixed osmotic pressure in the body by stabilizing the amount of fluids and salts. During
this procedure, excess water or ions or other molecules like urea are removed from the
body to maintain the osmotic balance. The last type is chemical regulation, which is
the process of balancing the concentration of chemicals like carbon dioxide and glucose
in the body by producing hormones. An example of a condition in this process is when
the insulin concentration increases, it also increases the blood sugar level. This
situation occurs in order to bring the level of the hormones back to normal.
 What are the different biochemical processes?
Living things should exchange gases (usually CO2 and O2), take in water,
minerals, and food, and eliminate wastes to remain alive. These tasks eventually
happen at the cellular level and demand that molecules traverse through the cell's layer.
This membrane is a compounded structure responsible for controlling the movement of
materials into and out of the cell, dividing the cell's contents from its surroundings, and
interconnecting with the cell's surroundings.
The ways that the molecules move through the membrane are active and
passive transports. Active transport requires that the cell utilize energy obtained from
food to move the larger molecules directly to the cell membrane. Passive transport
does not require such energy outlay and occurs voluntarily. The movement of molecules
through the membrane is a vital activity in an organism to live. This procedure is known
as a biological process or, better yet, called
biochemical process. Biochemical processes consist of many chemical reactions or
other events involved in the persistence and transformation of life forms. Included in
these procedures are diffusion, osmosis, dialysis, surface
tension, fermentation, and adsorption.
A. Diffusion
Diffusion, an example of passive transport, is the motion of particles from a zone
in which they have a greater concentration to a region in which they are less
concentrated. It relies on the movement of the molecules. You can understand diffusion
better if you know the principle of equilibrium. Two types of equilibrium
exist. When there is no action taking place, static equilibrium occurs. Dynamic
equilibrium happens when two opposite actions occur at the same rate. When the
system is not at equilibrium, diffusion takes place.
Diffusion can take place through a semi-permeable membrane. The membrane
allows small molecules like carbon dioxide, water, and oxygen to pass through easily.
Suppose a cell is suspended in a water solution (like the sea) with oxygen present in it.
In that case, the oxygen molecules will enter the cell. They will also vacate the cell at
the same pace, and a dynamic equilibrium will exist.

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 Figure 4.1 The movement of oxygen gas through a
semi-permeable membrane
In this case, oxygen effectively moves from high concentration (the seawater) to
a low concentration (the cell), and diffusion occurs. Further, as the chemical reactions in
the cell consume oxygen, they yield carbon
dioxide. The level of CO2 in the cell increases so that more CO2 molecules hit the inner
part of the cell. So, the overall effect is that the CO2 moves out of the cell.
B. Osmosis
Another critical biochemical process is osmosis. The motion of water molecules
through a permeable membrane from a lower concentration region to a higher solute
concentration is osmosis. It is a particular case of diffusion. If water dissolves a large
molecule like starch, it is too large to pass through the pores in the cell membrane, so it
cannot disperse from one side of the membrane to the other. The water molecules can
move along the membrane. However, the starch molecules obstruct the water's motion,
averting them from leaving as fast as they enter. Hence, more water flows into the side
with the starch than flows out, and this condition dilutes the starch.

Figure 4.2. Water molecules passing through

a semi-permeable membrane
If a large molecule like a protein is in the cell, the water moves faster than it
leaves; it results in the cell's swelling. If a large amount of water enters the cell, it can
burst, which kills the cell. Things are complicated when the starch or other large
molecule is on the outside of the cell. Then the cell loses water faster than it comes in,

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and the cell shrinks, which might not be too bad except that the cell needs the water for
the chemical reactions that take place inside that keep it alive. Food preservation uses
this principle. Foods packed in salt or sugar prevent bacterial growth by practically
sucking the water out of the bacterial cells (or, more appropriately, preventing water
from entering the cells) and preventing their growth.
Osmosis displays itself in most biological systems that are cellular.
Nutrients, oxygen, water, and waste gases can pass in or out of the cell through the
semi-permeable cell membrane. Cells in which water passes out of the cell faster than
can get in are shrinking and undergoing crenation. This situation happens when cells
are placed in the extracellular fluid of more than 0.9% salt solution, a hypertonic
solution. The extracellular solution is concentrated enough to allow water molecules to
osmotically pass to the outside of the cell faster than water can pass into the cell. As a
result, the cells dehydrate and shrink.
On the other hand, if cells are placed in a salt solution of less than 0.9%, then
the water on the outside of the cell in the extracellular fluid can pass into the
cell faster than water can get out. The result is that the cells swell with the excess water
and eventually burst open. The cell becomes hemolytic. The extracellular fluid itself is
said to be hypotonic, a condition is known as water intoxication. It results in ingesting
too much water where the sodium/potassium ion pump cannot control the water intake
into the cells, and the cells rupture due to this intoxication.
The physiological saline (salt) solution is 0.9% and results in an equilibrium
between osmosis into the cell and outside the cell. This kind of solution is the
extracellular fluid that our cells respond to most positively. The solution is said to be
isotonic. The cells should maintain this intricate balance in osmosis in and out of it at all
times. This process's controller is the kidneys that filter out waste products and recycle
needed nutrients while maintaining this isotonic condition in the extracellular fluids.
C. Dialysis
Cellular membranes are not osmotic membranes. For a cell to live, the
membrane must allow the passage of not only water molecules but also ions, nutrients,
and waste products. Membranes that allow crystalloids to pass through them, but not
large molecules or colloids, are called dialyzing membranes. Dialysis is the movement
of ions and small molecules (but not colloidal particles)
through a membrane. Most animal membranes are dialyzing membranes.
In medicine, renal dialysis is a method of getting rid of waste materials like urea
from the blood when the kidneys are incapable of this function resulting in renal failure.
There are two main types of dialysis, such as hemodialysis and peritoneal dialysis. In
hemodialysis, also known as an artificial kidney, the patient's blood passes through a
tube to a semi-permeable membrane that filters out waste products. The cleansed blood

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returns to the body. The machine monitors the procedure, which also provides the
dialysis fluid.
On the other hand, in peritoneal dialysis, a particular solution is run through a
tube into the peritoneal cavity, the abdominal body cavity around the intestine. The fluid
is left there for a while to absorb waste products and then removed through the tube.
D. Surface Tension
The different body fluids like urine, gastric juice, digestive and cerebrospinal fluids
contain numerous surfactants, proteins, and lipids. These low and high-molecular-weight
surfactants are the common materials in various tissues of the
body which control surface tension of human interfaces. Surface tension is the
property of a liquid's surface that allows it to resist an external force due to the cohesive
nature of the water molecules shared with all neighboring molecules.
The third component's addition may lower the surface tension considerably when
two partially miscible liquids have contact between each other. Each dissolve to a
certain extent in the other, causing marked changes in surface tension. Soap,
detergents, and salts of bile acids serve as emulsifying agents that lower liquids' surface
tension.
E. Fermentation
An anaerobic process that occurs in many microorganisms used in foodstuffs,
particularly carbohydrates, is called fermentation. It is also an enzymatic
decomposition that takes place in the large bowel of all animals. In alcoholic
fermentation in yeast, the end products are ethanol and carbon dioxide.
Digestive enzymes are not produced in the large intestine but contained some
bacteria which have the enzymes to digest and utilize many substrates. Some animals'
diet consists of cellulose, including man, but no mammalian cell produces cellulase.
Thus, fermentation is the primary source of intestinal gas.
F. Adsorption
Adsorption is the process of binding a substance to a surface like when a layer
of ions, molecules, or aggregates of molecules condensed on the solid's surface. This
process arises from the valence forces or other attractive forces of the atoms or
molecules in the solid's outermost layer. The amount of the adsorption depends upon
the content of the surface, and the surface adsorbed.
Adsorption is a phenomenon that a phase of a molecule or atom of matter can
adhere to another phase. The substance that adheres to another is called adsorbent.
The material where the adsorbent adhered to is called an adsorbate. The matter has
adsorptive power because the molecules at the boundary of two phases stand in a
specific state. There is a strong attracting power between the molecules in a matter
phase, the magnitude of which depends on the summation of the gravitation of chemical

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bond between adjacent molecules in a material phase, and Van der Waal's attraction
force between molecules. In the course of adsorption, the number of adsorbates
enlarges with the increase of the adsorbent's surface. Therefore, in order to achieve a
more significant adsorptive effect, it is essential to maximize the surface of the
adsorbent by decreasing the size and increasing the
surface area of particles.
 What are the types of biochemical reactions?
All life processes consist of chemical reactions catalyzed by enzymes, which are
biological catalysts that can alter the said reactions' rate and specificity.
They are known as biochemical reactions, which transform molecules into
different molecules inside the cells. Among the most frequent reactions encountered in
biochemical processes are the following: (1) nucleophilic substitution, (2) elimination, (3)
addition, (4) isomerization, (5) oxidation-reduction, (6) hydrolysis, and (7) hydration.
1. Nucleophilic Substitution Reactions
An essential type of nucleophilic substitution reactions in the body is glucose
reaction with adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In a nucleophilic substitution reaction, one
atom or group replaces another atom or group in a molecule.

A: + B -----X → A—B + X
Nucleophile Electrophile Leaving group
In the general reaction shown above, the attacking species (A) is a nucleophile,
meaning "nucleus-lover." Most often, nucleophiles are anions or negatively-charged
particles. However, neutral species with unshared electrons can also act as
nucleophiles. Electrophiles or "electron-lover" are the atoms or groups transferred from
one nucleophile to another. In the example given above, nucleophile A attracts
electrophile B. As the new bond forms between A and B, the old one between B and X
breaks. The outgoing nucleophile, X, is called a leaving group.
2. Elimination Reactions
If a double bond is formed when atoms in a molecule are removed, it is an
elimination reaction:
H H H H
ǀ ǀ ǀ ǀ
H—C—C—H → H---C==C---H + A---B
ǀ ǀ
A B
A very good example of this reaction is the dehydration of 2-phosphoglycerate, an
important step in the carbohydrate metabolism.
3. Addition Reactions

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 As the term suggests, it is the combination of two molecules to form a single
product. It is the reverse reaction of the elimination reaction.

H H H H
ǀ ǀ ǀ ǀ
H---C==C---H + A---B → H---C==C---H
ǀ ǀ
A B
The hydrogenation of an alkene is an example of an addition reaction.
4. Isomerization
When the reactions involve the intramolecular shift of atoms or groups, it is
known as isomerization reactions. One of the most common biochemical
isomerizations is the interconversion between ketose and aldose sugars. Isomers are
the name given to these compounds since they have the same molecular formulas, but
they rearranged their bonds.

5. Oxidation-Reduction Reaction
This reaction is more popularly known as a redox reaction. It occurs when there is a
transfer of electrons from a reducing agent (a donor) to an electron acceptor or the
oxidizing agent. When reducing agents donate their electrons, they become oxidized.
As oxidizing agents accept electrons, they become reduced. The two processes always
occur simultaneously.
There are two simple rules that you may observe to determine whether a
molecule has been oxidized or reduced:
A. Oxidation has occurred if a molecule gains oxygen or loses hydrogen:
CH3CH2 --OH → CH3C ---OH
ǀǀ
O
Ethanol Ethanoic acid (Acetic acid)
B. Reduction has occurred if a molecule loses oxygen or gains hydrogen:
CH3CH2 --OH → CH3C ---OH
ǀǀ
O
Ethanol Ethanoic acid (Acetic acid)

6. Hydrolysis Reactions
Oftentimes, hydrolytic reactions involve nucleophilic substitution either at a
saturated carbon or a carbonyl carbon. It may be catalyzed by acid or base.

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Hydrolysis is the typical reaction involved in the digestion of food with the help of
water. For example, an acid-catalyzed reaction degrades proteins in the stomach.
Another significant hydrolytic reaction takes place in the mouth when salivary amylase
initiates starch hydrolysis. However, this process accounts for not more than 30% of
total starch degradation due to the enzyme's inactivation by an acid pH.

Disaccharide 2 moles of monosaccharides

7. Hydration Reactions
One of the most common addition reactions hydration reaction. It is a process
of adding water to an organic molecule. Hydration reactions occur in the presence of an
enzyme. An example of this is the conversion of the hydration of the metabolic
intermediate fumarate to form malate in the enzyme fumarase presence. This reaction
is part of the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle (TCA), also known as the Krebs Cycle.

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