Lecture 6 Flashcards
What are the six processes that involve carbohydrate metabolism?
- glycogenesis
- glycogenolysis
- glycolysis
- hexose monophosphate shunt
- Krebs cycle
- gluconeogenesis
What are the three fates of glucose in the cell?
First turned into G6P and then:
1. glycogenesis - energy storage
2. glycolysis - energy production
3. hexose monophosphate shunt (pentose phosphate pathway) - generates precursors for biogenesis
Where does glycogenesis occur in the body?
Liver or muscles
When does glycogenesis come into effect?
when we are eating
What is the purpose of glycogenesis?
Store excess glucose for use by the body at a later time
What is glycogenin?
An enzyme that serves as a scaffold on which to attach glucose molecules to build glycogen. A primer, it initially attaches glucose molecules to itself before glycogen synthase takes over and adds glucose to the growing glycogen store, this process requires energy
What are the brief steps to glycogenesis?
- Glucose (blood) enters the liver/muscles through insulin stimulation
- Glucose (blood) uses ATP and hexokinase/glucokinase to form G6P
- G6P is converted into G1P by hexo/glucokinase and then converted into glycogen through glycogen synthase (which is activated by insulin)
What are the brief steps to glycogenolysis?
- Glycogen is broken down into G1P by glycogen phosphorylase (breaks alpha 1-4 glycosidic bonds) which is initiated by glucagon
- G1P is converted to G6P which has two possible fates: can be turned into fructose 6 phosphate which can be used for glycolysis OR can be converted into glucose by glucose 6 phosphatase for the blood-stream
What is the function of glycogenolysis
breaking down glycogen when starving
Which organ is the only organ that can release glucose back into the blood?
the liver
What is insulin resistance?
When the body produces insulin, but the cell doesn’t know it exists
What is the function of insulin?
Insulin reduces blood sugar, it helps package glucose in the liver, it is an anabolic hormone
What is the process of blood sugar levels and the pancreas and liver?
High blood sugar:
- promotes insulin release in the pancreas which goes to the liver to stimulate glucose -> glycogen which lowers blood sugar
Low blood sugar:
- promotes glucagon release in the pancreas which goes to the liver to stimulate glycogen -> glucose which raises blood sugar
Where does glycolysis take place?
cytoplasm
What are the brief steps to glycolysis?
Investment phase:
Glucose -> G6P -> Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate using glucokinase and hexokinase (step 1) and phosphofructokinase (step 3)
Generation phase:
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate -> 2x Glyceraldehyde-3 phosphate -> 2x pyruvate
What is phosphofructokinase inhibited by?
ATP and glucagon (in the liver) therefore, if enough ATP is being produced by glycolysis, it inhibits phosphofructokinase so that it doesn’t continue glycolysis and keeps glucose for storage