Glycolysis is a metabolic pathway consisting of ten reactions that convert glucose to pyruvate, releasing energy to form ATP and NADH. It occurs in two phases: the chemical priming phase and the energy-yielding phase. In the priming phase, D-glucose, which can be imported or derived from galactose metabolism, is phosphorylated to glucose-6-phosphate by a hexokinase-like enzyme, using ATP. This is then converted to fructose-6-phosphate, which is further phosphorylated to fructose-1,6-bisphosphate by 6-phosphofructokinase, also using ATP. Aldolase then splits fructose-1,6-bisphosphate into dihydroxyacetone phosphate and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, which can interconvert via triosephosphate isomerase. In the energy-yielding phase, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is converted to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate by glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase, producing NADH in the process. ATP is generated when 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate is converted to 3-phosphoglycerate. Further steps involve the conversion of 3-phosphoglycerate to 2-phosphoglycerate by phosphoglycerate mutase, followed by conversion to phosphoenolpyruvate by enolase. Finally, pyruvate kinase converts phosphoenolpyruvate to pyruvate, producing ATP in the process. Pyruvate then participates in further metabolic pathways, including pyruvate metabolism, tyrosine metabolism, and the synthesis of pantothenate and CoA.

Glycolysis References