Glucose pentose phosphate pathway

Vnother pathway of glucose catabolism, the pentose phosphate pathway, is the primary source of N/ E)PH, the reduced coenzyme essential to most reductive biosynthetic processes. For example, N/VDPH is crucial to the biosynthesis of... 

Cells require a constant supply of N/ X)PH for reductive reactions vital to biosynthetic purposes. Much of this requirement is met by a glucose-based metabolic sequence variously called the pentose phosphate pathway, the hexose monophosphate shunt, or the phosphogluconate pathway. In addition to providing N/VDPH for biosynthetic processes, this pathway produces ribos 5-phosphate, which is essential for nucleic acid synthesis. Several metabolites of the pentose phosphate pathway can also be shuttled into glycolysis. 

FIGURE 23.27 The glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase reaction is the committed step in the pentose phosphate pathway. 

This enzyme interconverts ribulose-5-P and ribose-5-P via an enediol intermediate (Figure 23.30). The reaction (and mechanism) is quite similar to the phosphoglucoisomerase reaction of glycolysis, which interconverts glucose-6-P and fructose-6-P. The ribose-5-P produced in this reaction is utilized in the biosynthesis of coenzymes (including N/ DH, N/ DPH, F/ D, and Big), nucleotides, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA). The net reaction for the first four steps of the pentose phosphate pathway is... 

The following compound is an intermediate in the pentose phosphate pathway, an alternative route for glucose metabolism. Identify the sugar it is derived from. 

One of the steps in the pentose phosphate pathway for glucose catabolism is the reaction of sedoheptulose 7-phosphate with glyceraldehyde 3-pho phate in the presence of a transaldolase to yield erythrose 4-phosphate and fructose 6-phosphate. 

Glycolysis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and fatty acid synthesis are all found in the cytosol. In gluconeo-genesis, substrates such as lactate and pyruvate, which are formed in the cytosol, enter the mitochondrion to yield oxaloacetate before formation of glucose. 

Glucose 6-phosphate is an important compound at the junction of several metabolic pathways (glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, the pentose phosphate pathway, glycogenosis, and glycogenolysis). In glycolysis, it is converted to fructose 6-phosphate by phosphohexose-isomerase, which involves an aldose-ketose isomerization. 

The pentose phosphate pathway is an alternative route for the metabolism of glucose. It does not generate ATP but has two major functions (1) The formation of NADPH for synthesis of fatty acids and steroids and (2) the synthesis of ribose for nucleotide and nucleic acid formation. Glucose, fructose, and galactose are the main hexoses absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract, derived principally from dietary starch, sucrose, and lactose, respectively. Fructose and galactose are converted to glucose, mainly in the liver. 

Figure 20-h Flow chart of pentose phosphate pathway and its connections with the pathway of glycolysis. The full pathway, as indicated, consists of three interconnected cycles in which glucose 6-phosphate is both substrate and end product. The reactions above the broken line are nonreversible, whereas all reactions under that line are freely reversible apart from that catalyzed by fructose-1,6-bisphosphatase. 

Although glucose 6-phosphate is common to both pathways, the pentose phosphate pathway is markedly different from glycolysis. Oxidation utilizes NADP rather than NAD, and CO2, which is not produced in glycolysis, is a characteristic product. No ATP is generated in the pentose phosphate pathway, whereas ATP is a major product of glycolysis. 

The pentose phosphate pathway, present in the cytosol, can account for the complete oxidation of glucose, producing NADPH and COj but not ATP. 

Erythrocytes Transport of O2 1 Glycolysis, pentose phosphate pathway. No mitochondria and therefore no p-oxidation or citric acid cycle. Glucose Lactate 1 (Hemoglobin) ... 

The pentose phosphate pathway is operative in the RBC (it metabolizes about 5-10% of the total flux of glucose) and produces NADPH hemolytic anemia due to a deficiency of the activity of glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase is common. 

D-Xylulose 5-phosphate (ii-threo-2-pentulose 5-phosphate, XP) stands as an important metabolite of the pentose phosphate pathway, which plays a key fimction in the cell and provides intermediates for biosynthetic pathways. The starting compound of the pathway is glucose 6-phosphate, but XP can also be formed by direct phosphorylation of D-xylulose with li-xylulokinase. Tritsch et al. [114] developed a radiometric test system for the measurement of D-xylulose kinase (XK) activity in crude cell extracts. Aliquots were spotted onto silica plates and developed in n-propyl alcohol-ethyl acetate-water (6 1 3 (v/v) to separate o-xylose/o-xylulose from XP. Silica was scraped off and determined by liquid scintillation. The conversion rate of [ " C]o-xylose into [ " C]o-xylulose 5-phosphate was calculated. Some of the works devoted to the separation of components necessary while analyzing enzyme activity are presented in Table 9.8. 

The importance of having adequate supplies of NADPH for the regeneration of these various enzymes cannot be over emphasized. In normal situations this cofactor can be adequately provided by the reductive pentose phosphate pathway. Monitoring the activity of the pentose phosphate pathway has been proposed as a unique way to study the metabolic response to oxidative stress, since the glutathione peroxidase activity is coupled via glutathione reductase to the enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (Ben Yoseph et ah, 1994). 

Ben Yoseph, O., Camp, D. M., Robinson, T. E. etal. Dynamic measurements of cerebral pentose phosphate pathway activity in vivo using [ 1,6-13C2,6,6-2H2] glucose and microdialysis. /. Neurochem. 64 1336-1342,1995. 

Frc-6-P = fructose-6-phosphate Glc-1-P = glucose-1-phosphate PPP = pentose phosphate pathway UTP = uridyl triphosphate... 

In addition to the common pathways, glycolysis and the TCA cycle, the liver is involved with the pentose phosphate pathway regulation of blood glucose concentration via glycogen turnover and gluconeogenesis interconversion of monosaccharides lipid syntheses lipoprotein formation ketogenesis bile acid and bile salt formation phase I and phase II reactions for detoxification of waste compounds haem synthesis and degradation synthesis of non-essential amino acids and urea synthesis. 

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