glucokinase

Last reviewed 01/2018

Glucokinase is the liver enzyme that converts glucose into glucose-6-phosphate. It is an important first step in glycogenesis, fixing glucose in the cell. It acts in opposition to the enzyme glucose-6-phosphatase.

Glucokinase has a high rate of turnover and it is not inhibited by its product, glucose-6-phosphate. Hence, it has a large capacity for glucose uptake into the liver. This is in contrast to hexokinase, which is inhibited by its product.