Glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) - Glycolysis

10 important questions on Glycolysis and the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) - Glycolysis

What is glycolysis? What is the pathway of it?

Glycolysis is the metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate. The free energy release in this process is ATP and NADH. It consists out of 10 reaction catalyzed by enzymes.
  • Glucose + 2 ATP + 2 NAD+ > 2 Pyruvate + 4 ATP + 2 NADH


Main steps:
  1. Glucose to Glucose 6-phosphate
  2. Glucose 6-phosphate to Fructose 6-phosphate
  3. Fructose 6-phosphate to Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate
  4. Fructose 1,6-phosphate to Triose phosphate
  5. Triose phosphate to Phosphoenolypruvate
  6. Phosphoenolypruvate to Pyruvate

What needs to happen before the glycolysis can start?

The glucose form the gut needs to be transported over the cell membrane
  • by GLUT1 (sodium glucose linked transporter)
  • passive transporters (family of glucose transporters)

What are the different families of glucose transporters? Where are they located? What is there function?

  • GLUT1
    • all mammalian tissues (glucose uptake)
    • red blood cells
  • GLUT2
    • liver (removes excess glucose from blood) and pancreatic beta cells (regulation of insuline)
  • GLUT3
    • all mammalian tissues (glucose uptake)
    • Brain / neurons
  • GLUT4
    • muscle and fat cells (glucose amount in muscle plasma membrane)
  • GLUT5
    • small intestine (fructose transporter)
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What are the 3 stages of glycolysis?

  1. Investment: 2 ATP used
  2. Splitting: formation of C-3 intermediates
  3. production: 2x2=4 ATP + 2 NADH produced

What is product inhibition?

Product inhibition is a type of enzyme inhibition where the product of an enzyme reaction inhibits its production.
  • Glucose 6-phosphate -> hexokinase (except in liver)

Which are the two distinct hexokinases (iso-enzymes)?

Hexokinase 1
  • Muscle and brain
  • low Km (higher enzyme affinity)
  • Product inhibition by Glucose 6-phosphate


Hexokinase 4 (glucokinase)
  • liver
  • high Km
  • Not inhibited by Glucose 6-phosphate

What happens while glycolysis in the stage 1, the investment?

Stage 1: phasphorylation of glucose to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate investment of 2 ATP

  1. Glucose to Glucose 6-phosphate  Hexokinase
  2. Glucose 6-phosphate to Fructose 6-phosphate Phosphoglucose isomerase
  3. Fructose 6-phosphate to Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate Phosphofructokinase

What happens while glycolysis in stage 2, the splitting?

Stage 2:
  • Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate (C6) is split into two C3 molecules  Aldolase
  • fast conversation of DHAP (dihydroxyacetone phosphate) to GAP (Glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate) TIM (Triose phosphate isomerase)

What is the anaerobic glycolysis?

Anaerobic glycolysis is the transformation of glucose to lactate when there is limited amount of oxygen available. So pyruvate is converted into lactate instead of going into the citric cycle in the mitochondria. This is done through NAD+ which is regenerated from NADH by reduction of pyruvate to lactate.

Which enzyme catalyzes the phosphorylation of glucose (Step 1 glycolysis)?

  • Hexokinase
  • Glucose to glucose 6-phosphate (G-6P)
  • At high concentration G-6P inhibits hexokinase activity (product-inhibition)

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