Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
Pyruvate, the conjugate base, CH 3 COCOO −, is an intermediate in several metabolic pathways throughout the cell. Pyruvic acid can be made from glucose through glycolysis , converted back to carbohydrates (such as glucose) via gluconeogenesis , or converted to fatty acids through a reaction with acetyl-CoA . [ 3 ]
Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose (C 6 H 12 O 6) into pyruvate and, in most organisms, occurs in the liquid part of cells (the cytosol). The free energy released in this process is used to form the high-energy molecules adenosine triphosphate (ATP) and reduced nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH). [1]
Usually, glycerol 3-phosphate is generated from glucose by glycolysis, in the liquid of the cell's cytoplasm (the cytosol). Glyceroneogenesis is used when the concentrations of glucose in the cytosol are low, and typically uses pyruvate as the precursor, but can also use alanine, glutamine, or any substances from the TCA cycle.
The location where glycolysis, aerobic or anaerobic, occurs is in the cytosol of the cell. In glycolysis, a six-carbon glucose molecule is split into two three-carbon molecules called pyruvate. These carbon molecules are oxidized into NADH and ATP. For the glucose molecule to oxidize into pyruvate, an input of ATP molecules is required.
Glycolysis can be regulated at different steps of the process through feedback regulation. The step that is regulated the most is the third step. This regulation is to ensure that the body is not over-producing pyruvate molecules. The regulation also allows for the storage of glucose molecules into fatty acids. [5]
Fates of pyruvate under anaerobic conditions: Pyruvate is the terminal electron acceptor in lactic acid fermentation. When sufficient oxygen is not present in the muscle cells for further oxidation of pyruvate and NADH produced in glycolysis, NAD+ is regenerated from NADH by reduction of pyruvate to lactate. [ 4 ]
In eukaryotes, glycolysis occurs in the cytoplasm, pyruvate decarboxylation in the mitochondria, the citric acid cycle within the mitochondrial matrix, and oxidative phosphorylation via the electron transport chain on the mitochondrial cristae. Thus pyruvate dehydrogenase complexes (containing the dihydrolipoyl transacetylase enzymes) are found ...
After glycolysis, pyruvate can either be further broken down by pyruvate decarboxylase (Pdc) or pyruvate dehydrogenase (Pdh). The kinetics of the enzymes are such that when pyruvate concentrations are high, due to a high rate of glycolysis, there is increased flux through Pdc and thus the fermentation pathway. [12]