Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
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]
If the blood glucose level falls to dangerously low levels (as during very heavy exercise or lack of food for extended periods), the alpha cells of the pancreas release glucagon, a peptide hormone which travels through the blood to the liver, where it binds to glucagon receptors on the surface of liver cells and stimulates them to break down glycogen stored inside the cells into glucose (this ...
The release of glucagon is precipitated by low levels of blood glucose, whereas high levels of blood glucose stimulates cells to produce insulin. Because the level of circulatory glucose is largely determined by the intake of dietary carbohydrates, diet controls major aspects of metabolism via insulin. [ 18 ]
Glycolysis results in the breakdown of glucose, but several reactions in the glycolysis pathway are reversible and participate in the re-synthesis of glucose (gluconeogenesis). [9] Glycolysis was the first metabolic pathway discovered: As glucose enters a cell, it is immediately phosphorylated by ATP to glucose 6-phosphate in the irreversible ...
The insulin transduction pathway is a biochemical pathway by which insulin increases the uptake of glucose into fat and muscle cells and reduces the synthesis of glucose in the liver and hence is involved in maintaining glucose homeostasis. This pathway is also influenced by fed versus fasting states, stress levels, and a variety of other ...
Glucose-6-phosphate can be used in other metabolic pathways or dephosphorylated to free glucose. Whereas free glucose can easily diffuse in and out of the cell, the phosphorylated form (glucose-6-phosphate) is locked in the cell, a mechanism by which intracellular glucose levels are controlled by cells.
This exposes the α[1→6] branching point, which is hydrolysed by α[1→6] glucosidase, removing the final glucose residue of the branch as a molecule of glucose and eliminating the branch. This is the only case in which a glycogen metabolite is not glucose-1-phosphate. The glucose is subsequently phosphorylated to glucose-6-phosphate by ...
Glucose reacts with oxygen in the following reaction, C 6 H 12 O 6 + 6O 2 → 6CO 2 + 6H 2 O. Carbon dioxide and water are waste products, and the overall reaction is exothermic. The reaction of glucose with oxygen releasing energy in the form of molecules of ATP is therefore one of the most important biochemical pathways found in living organisms.