glycerol metabolism
Last reviewed 03/2021
Plasma glycerol may enter cellular glycolysis or gluconeogenesis after traversing the plasma membrane:
- glycerol kinase converts glycerol to glycerol-3-phosphate
- glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase converts glycerol-3-phosphate into dihydroxyacetone phosphate
- triose phosphate isomerase converts dihydroxyacetone phosphate into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate
Either glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate or dihydroxyacetone phosphate may be used as substrates for glycolysis or gluconeogenesis. The direction of flow is dependent on the activity of a number of non-equilibrium reactions - see submenu.
Generally, glycerol is released from its storage within triglycerides during lipolysis.