Post-absorption Processing of Carbohydrates Flashcards
Which 3 sugars are absorbed from the GI tract?
- glucose
- galactose
- fructose
Where do glucose and fructose come from?
Glucose comes from starch and glycogen breakdown (animal products)
Fructose comes from sucrose (sugar)
Where does galactose come from?
Galactose is one of the monomers of lactose
Lactose comes from dairy products
Which metabolic pathway will fructose and galactose enter?
They are converted to compounds that will enter the same metabolic pathway as glucose
What are the 2 potential products with galactose and fructose metabolism?
How common are they?
- hereditary fructose intolerance occurs in 1 in 20,000 births
- galactosaemia occurs in 1 in 23,000 births
They are genetically inherited and are associated with an absence of enzymes
What are the 4 possible fates of glucose?
- metabolism to produce energy (ATP)
- conversion to glycogen for storage
- synthesis of other cellular components
- conversion to fat for storage
What are the other cellular components that glucose may be converted to?
It can be converted into ribose phosphate, which is used to make DNA and RNA
It can be converted into glycoproteins and glycolipids
Where will glucose be stored as glycogen after a meal?
In the liver and skeletal muscle
Some glucose is also stored as fat
At what concentration should blood glucose be maintained at and why?
Maintaining blood glucose at around 5 mM is crucial for survival
This is because the brain relies on glucose for ATP synthesis
What happens if blood glucose falls below 3 mM?
This leads to confusion and coma
What happens if blood glucose rises above 8 mM?
Why does this occur?
It leads to long term vascular damage
Damage to the vascular system occurs through protein glycation
What must glucose be converted to before it can be used to produce energy?
Glucose and fatty acids are converted to acetyl CoA
Glucose must be first converted to pyruvate, then acetyl CoA
What happens once glucose (and fatty acids) are converted to acetyl CoA?
- Acetyl CoA enters the Krebs cycle
- The Krebs cycle produces reduced coenzymes (e.g. NADH)
- NADH carries high energy electrons to the IMM and passes them to the electron transport chain
Why is glucose a universal metabolic fuel?
It is used by all cells
Where does glycolysis take place?
What is significant about when glycolysis can generate ATP?
It takes place in the cytosol of ALL cells
Glycolysis can generate ATP in the presence or absence of oxygen
What are the 2 phases of glycolysis?
- preparative phase
2. generating phase
What does the preparative phase require?
Where does it run to?
It requires ATP
It runs from glucose to the generation of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate
Where does the generating phase run to?
What does it generate?
It runs from fructose 1,6-bisphosphate to pyruvate
It generates ATP and NADH
What is the overall equation for glycolysis?
glucose + 2 ADP + 2 Pi + 2 ATP + 2 NAD+
————>
2 pyruvate + 2 NADH + 4ATP + 2 H+ + 2 H2O
How many molecules of ATP are produced per molecule of glucose during glycolysis?
4 molecules of ATP are generated per glucose molecule
2 ATP are consumed during the preparative phase
The net production is 2 ATP
Under anaerobic conditions, how much ATP is generated per glucose molecule?
What is this process?
2 molecules of ATP are generated per molecule of glucose via glycolysis
This process is substrate level phosphorylation
Under aerobic conditions, how many molecules of ATP are generated per glucose and why?
Under aerobic conditions, ATP is used to generate a further 3-5 molecules of ATP through oxidative phosphorylation
Aerobic glycolysis generates 5-7 ATP molecules per glucose molecule
How many molecules of ATP are produced per glucose molecule after complete oxidation of glucose via the Krebs cycle?
This yields 30 - 32 molecules of ATP per glucose molecule
What is the first reaction in glycolysis which requires ATP?
Why is this reaction important?
Conversion of glucose to glucose-6-phosphate
This involves hexokinase and glucokinase
It prevents glucose from leaving the cell
What is the second reaction in glycolysis which requires ATP?
Which enzymes are involved?
Conversion of fructose-6-phosphate to fructose-1,6-bisphosphate
This involves phosphofructokinase-1
What is significant about the ATP-requiring reactions in glycolysis?
Most reactions in glycolysis are reversible
These reactions are IRREVERSIBLE so allow for control of the pathway
What are the 3 key control points in glycolysis?
- Hexokinase/glucose
- Phosphofructokinase-1
- Pyruvate kinase
Why does the hexokinase/glucose stage act as a control point in glycolysis?
It converts glucose to glucose-6-phosphate so it is only performed when it is needed
Why is phosphofructokinase-1 the main control step of glycolysis?
It involves splitting a 6 carbon molecule into 2 3-carbon units
This is the start of the generating phase
Why does the generating phase run twice per molecule of glucose?
Each 3 carbon unit produced by phosphofructokinase enters the generating phase
Per glucose molecule, 2 3C units are produced
What is involved in the pyruvate kinase control step?
This converts phosphoenolpyruvate into pyruvate
It generates 1 ATP
What is the other reaction in the generating phase that generates a molecule of ATP?
Conversion of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate into 3-phosphoglycerate
This is catalysed by phosphoglycerate kinase
What happens to pyruvate in the absence of oxygen?
It is NOT converted to acetyl CoA to enter the Krebs cycle
It is converted to lactate and NAD+ is regenerated
During the process of converting pyruvate to lactate, how much ATP is produced?
2 molecules of ATP are produced per molecule of glucose
Why is the conversion of pyruvate to lactate important for maintaining the rate of glycolysis?
It prevents the build-up of pyruvate at the end of the metabolic pathway by removing it
Build-up of pyruvate would slow down glycolysis
Why is the conversion of pyruvate to lactate important in maintaining NAD+ levels?
There is a requirement to regenerate NAD+
If NADH builds up, NAD+ levels fall
This also leads to a slowing down of glycolysis