Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, control glycolysis

Reaction 2 of Fig. 17-7 is a simple isomerization that moves the carbonyl group to C-2 so that (1 cleavage to two three-carbon fragments can occur. Before cleavage a second phosphorylation (reaction 3) takes place to form fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. This ensures that when fructose bisphosphate is cleaved by aldolase each of the two halves will have a phosphate handle. This second priming reaction (reaction 3) is the first step in the series that is unique to glycolysis. The catalyst for the reaction, phosphofructokinase, is carefully controlled, as discussed in Chapter 11 (see Fig. 11-2). 

Figure 16.20. Control of the Synthesis and Degradation of Fructose 2,6-Bisphosphate. A low blood-glucose level as signaled by glucagon leads to the phosphorylation of the bifunctional enzyme and hence to a lower level of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate, slowing glycolysis. High levels of fructose 6-phosphate accelerate the formation of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate by facilitating the dephosphorylation of the bifunctional enzyme.

Fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is formed by phosphorylation of fructose 6-phosphate by phosphofructoki-nase-2. The same enzyme protein is also responsible for its breakdown, since it has fructose-2,6-hisphos-phatase activity. This hifrmctional enzyme is under the allosteric control of fructose 6-phosphate, which stimulates the kinase and inhibits the phosphatase. Hence, when glucose is abundant, the concentration of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate increases, stimulating glycolysis by activating phosphofructokinase-1 and inhibiting... 

Figure 19-3. Control of glycolysis and gluconeoge-nesis in the liver by fructose 2,6-bisphosphate and the bifunctional enzyme PFK-2/F-2,6-Pase (6-phospho-fructo-2-kinase/fructose-2,6-bisphosphatase). (PFK-1, phosphofructokinase-1 [6-phosphofructo-1 -kinase] ...

Feed-forward control is more likely to be focused on a reaction occurring at or near the end of a pathway. Compounds produced early in the pathway act to enhance the activity of the control enzyme and so prevent a back log of accumulated intermediates just before the control point. An example of feed-forward control is the action of glucose-6-phosphate, fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (F-l,6bisP) and phosphoenol pyruvate (PEP), all of which activate the enzyme pyruvate kinase in glycolysis in the liver. 

Phiosphoffuctokinases (PFK-1 and PFK-2) PFK-1 is the rate-limiting enzyme and main control point in glycolysis. In this reaction, fructose 6-phosphate is phosphorylated to fructose 1,6-bisphosphate using ATP. 

To limit futile cycling between glycolysis and gluconeogenesis, the two pathways are under reciprocal allosteric control, mainly achieved by the opposite effects of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate on PFK-1 and FBPase-1. 

Pyruvate kinase catalyzes the third irreversible step in glycolysis. It is activated by fructose 1,6-bisphosphate. ATP and the amino acid alanine allosterically inhibit the enzyme so that glycolysis slows when supplies of ATP and biosynthetic precursors (indicated by the levels of Ala) are already sufficiently high. In addition, in a control similar to that for PFK (see above), when the blood glucose concentration is low, glucagon is released and stimulates phosphorylation of the enzyme via a cAMP cascade (see Topic J7). This covalent modification inhibits the enzyme so that glycolysis slows down in times of low blood glucose levels. 

Step 3 is the second control point of glycolysis and involves the conversion of fructose 6-phosphaie into fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, catalyzed by phosphofructokinase. 

Figure 16.30. Reciprocal Regulation of Gluconeogenesis and Glycolysis in the Liver. The level of fructose 2,6-bisphosphate is high in the fed state and low in starvation. Another important control is the inhibition of pyruvate kinase by phosphorylation during starvation.

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