Metabolic Control

Metabolic control examines how hormones and enzyme regulation keep the body's fuel-burning pathways working together instead of against each other. This course covers how insulin and epinephrine signal through protein kinase A and phosphoprotein phosphatase to control fat metabolism, and how reciprocal regulation – driven by molecules such as fructose-2,6-bisphosphate, AMP, ATP, and citrate – prevents glycolysis and gluconeogenesis from running at the same time and wasting energy in a futile cycle. You'll also cover the Cori cycle and the specific role the liver plays in maintaining blood glucose levels for the rest of the body during fasting and exercise. This course draws together concepts from the carbohydrate metabolism, lipid metabolism, and hormone signaling courses to show how metabolism is coordinated at the whole-body level, which is exactly the kind of integrative reasoning that pre-health coursework and exams expect.