Question

205- 116 97- ¥66- 45- 33 37 39 41 43 45 47 Fraction number

A. Molecular motors are ATPases that use energy of hydrolysis of ATP to generate a motive (movement) force. Hydrolysis of ATP results in the production of ADP and inorganic phosphate, the latter of which can be detected by chromogenic methods. How would you determine which fraction(s) obtained from both of the columns shown above contain(s) the molecular motor?

Answer 1

Hydrolysis from Greek hydro-, meaning "water", and lysis, meaning "to unbind") usually means the cleavage of chemical bonds by the addition of water. When a carbohydrate is broken into its component sugar molecules by hydrolysis (e.g. sucrose being broken down into glucose and fructose), this is termed saccharification. Generally, hydrolysis or saccharification is a step in the degradation of a substance.

Hydrolysis is related to energy metabolism and storage. All living cells require a continual supply of energy for two main purposes: the biosynthesis of micro and macromolecules, and the active transport of ions and molecules across cell membranes. The energy derived from the oxidation of nutrients is not used directly but, by means of a complex and long sequence of reactions, it is channelled into a special energy-storage molecule, adenosine triphosphate (ATP). The ATP molecule contains pyrophosphate linkages (bonds formed when two phosphate units are combined together) that release energy when needed. ATP can undergo hydrolysis in two ways: the removal of terminal phosphate to form adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and inorganic phosphate, or the removal of a terminal diphosphate to yield adenosine monophosphate (AMP) and pyrophosphate. The latter usually undergoes further cleavage into its two constituent phosphates. This results in biosynthesis reactions, which usually occur in chains, that can be driven in the direction of synthesis when the phosphate bonds have undergone hydrolysis.