PENTOSE PHOSPHATE PATHWAY
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Bottom Line: This simple, yet complicated, pathway serves four very different purposes. It connects with glycolysis in several places. |
For a picture of the pentose phosphate pathway, see Devlin, Figure 16.3.
Purpose 1: Sequester the high-energy electrons in dietary glucose
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Purpose 2: Produce pentoses, such as ribose, for nucleotide synthesis
Purpose 3: Dispose of excess ribose
Purpose 4: Anti-oxidant defense
We live in an environment that produces a large amount of oxidation in our tissues. These oxidation reactions can damage our cells. The reducing power of NADPH makes it ideal as a co-factor for many of our anti-oxidant defense systems. This is very important in RBCs which have to maintain the iron in hemoglobin in the reduced state. Note that lesions in the pentose phosphate pathway in RBCs can cause serious reactions to certain medications.
