代謝
からだが食べ物をエネルギー、構成成分、シグナルに変えるしくみ。
コレステロール
ヒトの細胞によるコレステロールの合成、感知、取り込み、排出の仕組みを、メバロン酸経路からLDL受容体、PCSK9、胆汁酸まで解説する。
アミノ酸と窒素
食事中の蛋白質の消化と吸収、アミノ基がアミノ基転移と尿素回路を経る過程、そしてフェニルケトン尿症から明らかになることを解説する。
葉酸・ビタミンB12と一炭素代謝
葉酸とビタミンB12が炭素原子を1個ずつDNAの塩基とメチオニンに受け渡す仕組みと、いずれかが欠乏すると巨赤芽球性貧血が起こる理由を解説する。
英語で読めるページ
Energy and ATP
How cells couple reactions to ATP, pass electrons to NAD+, FAD and NADP+, make ATP from a proton gradient and use energy organ by organ.
Glucose
How glucose is absorbed and enters cells, and how glycolysis, pyruvate dehydrogenase, the citric acid cycle and oxidative phosphorylation make ATP from it.
Fed and fasting
How insulin and glucagon switch the body between storing and releasing fuel, from glycogen to gluconeogenesis, ketone bodies and the course of a fast.
Fats
How the body digests fat, carries it in lipoproteins, burns and makes fatty acids, and why linoleic and α-linolenic acid must come from food.
How the body processes medicines
First-pass metabolism, the cytochrome P450 enzymes, conjugation, drug transporters, induction and inhibition, and the inherited differences behind them.
From genes to proteins
How DNA encodes proteins, how genes are transcribed, spliced and translated, and how variants in PAH, HBB, LDLR, ALDH2 and LCT change traits.
The cell and its compartments
How membranes, pumps and organelles divide the chemistry of a human cell, and how insulin at the cell surface changes which genes are transcribed.
Vitamins as cofactors
How B vitamins and vitamins C and K serve human enzymes as cofactors, which diseases their lack causes, and what supplement trials in adults found.
Hormones and signalling
How insulin, glucagon, adrenaline, cortisol, thyroid hormones, leptin, ghrelin and GLP-1 act on receptors and second messengers, and how feedback limits them.