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Aerobic respiration requires oxygen (O 2) in order to create ATP.Although carbohydrates, fats and proteins are consumed as reactants, aerobic respiration is the preferred method of pyruvate production in glycolysis, and requires pyruvate be transported the mitochondria in order to be oxidized by the citric acid cycle.
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 ...
Glucose circulates in the blood of animals as blood sugar. [6] [8] The naturally occurring form is d-glucose, while its stereoisomer l-glucose is produced synthetically in comparatively small amounts and is less biologically active. [8] Glucose is a monosaccharide containing six carbon atoms and an aldehyde group, and is therefore an aldohexose ...
Glycogen is a highly branched structure, consisting of the core protein Glycogenin, surrounded by branches of glucose units, linked together. [2] [12] The branching of glycogen increases its solubility, and allows for a higher number of glucose molecules to be accessible for breakdown at the same time. [2]
Metabolism (/ m ə ˈ t æ b ə l ɪ z ə m /, from Greek: μεταβολή metabolē, "change") is the set of life-sustaining chemical reactions in organisms.The three main functions of metabolism are: the conversion of the energy in food to energy available to run cellular processes; the conversion of food to building blocks of proteins, lipids, nucleic acids, and some carbohydrates; and the ...
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.
This constant cycle of carbon through the system is not the only element being transferred. In animal and plant respiration these living beings take in glucose and oxygen while emitting energy, carbon dioxide, and water as waste. These constant cycles provide for a influx of oxygen into the system and carbon out of the system.
The process of breathing does not fill the alveoli with atmospheric air during each inhalation (about 350 ml per breath), but the inhaled air is carefully diluted and thoroughly mixed with a large volume of gas (about 2.5 liters in adult humans) known as the functional residual capacity which remains in the lungs after each exhalation, and ...