Energy Metabolism

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Energy Metabolism
Respiration implies the reaction processes taking place within the cells of living organisms. These reactions facilitate the conversion of biochemical energy obtained from nutrients into adenosine triphosphate. The end products are released as waste products. The respiration process is further divided into three major categories namely electron transport chain, glycolysis, and citric acid cycle (Krebs cycle) (DeBerardinis 14).
Glycolysis is a process that occurs in the cytoplasm. It involves breaking glucose into two molecules of pyruvate. Citric acid cycle involves breaking down further of pyruvate into carbon dioxide in the mitochondria. Electron transport chain is the process by which a series of complexes transfer electrons from electron donors to the acceptors via complex reactions across a cell membrane. Based on the definitions, cancer cells have been proven to have adapted to multiplying themselves with or without oxygen through their respiration. The adaptability is enabled through producing glucose that provides energy in the absence of oxygen through a process of fermentation (Macheda, Rogers, and Best 656).
The main difference between fermentation and respiration is the utilization of oxygen. In the respiration, oxygen is a major component used in the process, while, fermentation does not involve the use of oxygen. The fermentation process occurs due to the lack of oxygen, while, the process of respiration involves the use of such enzymes as glucose.

Fermentation acts as a useful backup in the situations where the body cells are deprived of oxygen needed to keep up with the increasing demand in the surrounding cells especially when the body is under intense exercise (Apple 08). Cancer cells are at their maximum replication when there is a high concentration of glucose.
Warburg’s effect posits that the “incomplete combustion” that successfully turns nutrients into energy without the use or presence of oxygen is regarded as a fermentation. The cancer cells take advantage of this fermentation process to multiply rapidly. Scientists have tried to oppress these adaptations by finding a gene to remove in the cancer cell to make it docile. However, each time the cell evolves into adapting with a different gene, the mutations in cancer cells is attributed to the nature of the environment being toxic (Apple 08).
Warburg tried to study cells with the hope of one day creating a cure for cancer and studying its growth patterns. He observed how cancer cells opted to use glucose in multiplying rather than use the readily available oxygen. These behaviors made it clear that the cells require no oxygen and depend on fermentation to produce energy which they use to multiply (Apple 11). In support of the Warburg’s study of the cancer cell, scientists are able to identify cancer cells easier by just focusing at the key areas of the body where extra glucose is consumed.
Due to the overdependence of cancer cells on energy molecules, scientists are trying to find a way of cutting off these adaptations and denying the cells the opportunity of creating glucose through fermentation (DeBerardinis 17). Conversely, the cancer cells are proving a real deal since they keep on mutating and adapting to new conditions when they are suppressed from their normal routine. Starvation of the cells from energy slows down metabolism in the cancer cells since most of them depend entirely on the energy to replicate (Macheda, Rogers, and Best, 659).
Works Cited
Apple, Sam. “An old idea revived: Starve cancer to death.” The New York Times (2016). 1-12.
DeBerardinis, Ralph J. “The biology of cancer: metabolic reprogramming fuels cell growth and proliferation.” Cell metabolism 7.1 (2008): 11-20.
Macheda, Maria L., Suzanne Rogers, and James D. Best. “Molecular and cellular regulation of glucose transporter (GLUT) proteins in cancer.” Journal of cellular physiology 202.3 (2005): 654-662.