Studies estimate that in human red blood cells, 10--30% of hexokinase flux is diverted through the PPP, and the remainder through upper glycolysis (see this and this article). Therefore, if glycolysis is interrupted, the red blood cells lose their ability to maintain their sodium-potassium pumps, which require ATP to function, and eventually, they die. The overall velocity of red blood cell glycolysis is regulated by 3 rate-limiting enzymes, HK, PFK, and PK, and by the availability of NADH and ATP. In cells with mitochondria and oxidative metabolism, pyruvate is converted completely into CO 2 and H 2 O – glycolysis in this setting is termed aerobic glycolysis. Some glycolytic enzymes are allosterically stimulated (eg, fructose-1,6-bisphosphate [FBP] for PK) or inhibited (eg, glucose-6-phosphate [G6P] for HK) by intermediate products of the pathway. 2- Recognizing the main metabolic pathways occurring in RBCs with reference to their relations to functions of RBCs. why glucose fuels glycolysis in endothelial cells without coupling to the downstream tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS); why, instead, glutamine feeds the TCA cycle in these cells and how lactate, the end-product of glycolysis, contributes to the stimula-tion of angiogenesis in tumours. This article discusses the products of this process, which play an important part in body metabolism. Pyruvate, a three-carbon carboxylic acid, is the end product of glycolysis; 2 moles of pyruvate are formed per mole of glucose. I'm looking at TBR bio book 2, chapter 3, #51. Glycolysis is the breakdown of glucose at the cellular level for energy-generating metabolic reactions. Note that the above apply to mammalian red blood cells. To do so, they must be capable of passage through microcapillaries—a feat that is achieved by modifications… Title: Metabolism of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) 1 Metabolism of Red Blood Cells (RBCs) HMIM224 2 Objectives of the Lecture. Does glycolysis occur in RBCs? 1- Understanding the general structural functional features of red blood cells (RBCs). Mature erythrocytes, when removed from the circulation, exhibit severe disturbances of glycolytic flow, with accumulation not only of lactate, the ultimate product of glycolysis, but also of several upstream metabolic intermediates, primarily fructose-1,6-diphosphate, glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, and dihydroxyacetone phosphate. Products of Glycolysis. Mature red blood cells have no mitochondria, so all of their energy needs are supplied by anaerobic glycolysis (see Chapters 30 and 31). The space is needed for other molecules, in this case hemoglobin, which occupies about 33% of the cell interior. Mature mammalian red blood cells are not capable of aerobic respiration—the process in which organisms convert energy in the presence of oxygen—and glycolysis is their sole source of ATP. Also, red blood cells are located in a medium (blood plasma), that always has glucose available. The end product of anaerobic glycolysis is pyruvate, and erythrocytes reduce this to lactate (to recycle the NADH that is produced during glycolysis) and then export this lactate into the blood for further metabolism by the liver. If glycolysis is interrupted, these cells lose their ability to maintain their sodium-potassium pumps, and eventually, they die. This corresponds to 2--5% of glucose carbon released as CO2, and the remainder metabolized to lactate. Like reallyyy!!!??? 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