Introduction

BIOCHEMISTRY 3(2+1)
Lesson 17 : Glycolysis

Introduction

Glycolysis (from glycose, an older term for glucose + lysis degradation) is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose, C6H12O6, into pyruvate, C3H3O3-. The free energy released in this process is used to form the high energy compounds, ATP (adenosine triphosphate) and NADH (reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide).

Glycolysis is the sequence of reactions that metabolizes one molecule of glucose to two molecules of pyruvate with the concomitant net production of two molecules of ATP. This process is anaerobic (i.e., it does not require O2) in as much as it evolved before the accumulation of substantial amounts of oxygen in the atmosphere. Pyruvate can be further processed anaerobically (fermented) to lactate (lactic acid fermentation) or ethanol (alcoholic fermentation). Under aerobic conditions, pyruvate can be completely oxidized to CO2, generating much more ATP.

Glycolysis is a sequence of ten reactions involving ten intermediate compounds (one of the steps involves two intermediates). The intermediates provide entry points to glycolysis. For example, most monosaccharides, such as fructose, glucose, and galactose, can be converted to one of these intermediates. The intermediates may also be directly useful. For example, the intermediate dihydroxyacetone phosphate is a source of glycerol that combines with fatty acids to form fat.

The overall reaction of glycolysis is:

t

Purpose: catabolism of glucose to provide ATPs and NADH molecules also provides building blocks for anabolic pathways.

For simple anaerobic fermentations, the metabolism of one molecule of glucose to two molecules of pyruvate has a net yield of two molecules of ATP. Most cells will then carry out further reactions to 'repay' the used NAD+ and produce a final product of ethanol or lactic acid. Many bacteria use inorganic compounds as hydrogen acceptors to regenerate the NAD+.

Cells performing aerobic respiration synthesize much more ATP, but not as part of glycolysis. These further aerobic reactions use pyruvate and NADH + H+ from glycolysis. Eukaryotic aerobic respiration produces approximately 34 additional molecules of ATP for each glucose molecule, however most of these are produced by a vastly different mechanism to the substrate – level phosphorylation in glycolysis.

The lower energy production, per glucose, of anaerobic respiration relative to aerobic respiration, results in greater flux through the pathway under hypoxic (low-oxygen) conditions, unless alternative sources of anaerobically-oxidizable substrates, such as fatty acids, are found.

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Last modified: Saturday, 28 January 2012, 9:01 AM