pathway

Last reviewed 01/2018

The pathway of cellular respiration by glycolysis can be considered firstly in terms of:

  • entry of glucose into the cell or
  • production of glucose from another source e.g. glycogen, galactose

Then, there are the sequential enzyme reactions:

  • hexokinase converts glucose into glucose-6-phosphate
  • glucose-6-phosphate isomerase converts glucose-6-phosphate into fructose-6-phosphate
  • 6-phosphofructokinase converts fructose-6-phosphate into fructose-1,6-biphosphate
  • fructose biphosphate aldolase converts fructose-1,6-biphosphate into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate
  • triose phosphate isomerase converts dihydroxyacetone phosphate into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
  • glyceraldehyde phosphate dehydrogenase converts glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate into 3-phosphoglyceroyl phosphate
  • phosphoglycerate kinase converts 3-phosphoglyceroyl phosphate into 3-phosphoglycerate
  • phosphoglycerol mutase converts 3-phosphoglycerate into 2-phosphoglycerate
  • enolase converts 2-phosphoglycerate into phosphoenolpyruvate
  • pyruvate kinase converts phosphoenolpyruvate into pyruvate

Following glycolysis, one of the following two forward reactions may occur:

  • pyruvate dehydrogenase converts pyruvate into acetyl CoA
  • lactate dehydrogenase converts pyruvate into lactate - anaerobic glycolysis

Individual enzymes are considered in the submenu.