Substrate-level phosphorylation

Substrate-level phosphorylation

Substrate-level phosphorylation

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SLP Fundamentals - The Direct Deposit

Substrate-level phosphorylation (SLP) is the direct enzymatic transfer of a phosphate group ($P_i$) from a substrate to ADP, forming ATP. This contrasts with oxidative phosphorylation, which uses a proton gradient and ATP synthase. In glycolysis, SLP is the only method of ATP synthesis.

  • Step 7: 1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate → 3-Phosphoglycerate
    • Enzyme: Phosphoglycerate Kinase
    • Yield: 2 ATP (as 2 G3P molecules are processed)
  • Step 10: Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) → Pyruvate
    • Enzyme: Pyruvate Kinase
    • Yield: 2 ATP

Glycolysis pathway with substrate-level phosphorylation

⭐ Arsenate (arsenic poison) can prevent net ATP synthesis in glycolysis by competing with phosphate for binding to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate, forming an unstable compound that hydrolyzes without producing ATP at the phosphoglycerate kinase step.

Key Reactions & Enzymes - The Money Makers

Substrate-level phosphorylation is the direct transfer of a phosphate group from a substrate to ADP, forming ATP. In glycolysis, this occurs at two key steps, each happening twice per glucose molecule, yielding the "payoff."

  • Reaction 1: 1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate → 3-Phosphoglycerate
  • Reaction 2: Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP) → Pyruvate

Substrate-level phosphorylation by pyruvate kinase

FeatureReaction 1Reaction 2
EnzymePhosphoglycerate Kinase (PGK)Pyruvate Kinase (PK)
Substrate1,3-BisphosphoglyceratePhosphoenolpyruvate (PEP)
Product3-PhosphoglyceratePyruvate
ATP Yield2 ATP (per glucose)2 ATP (per glucose)

Exam Favorite: Pyruvate Kinase deficiency is an autosomal recessive disorder causing chronic hemolytic anemia. RBCs depend solely on glycolysis for ATP; without sufficient PK, they cannot maintain the Na+/K+ pump, leading to cell swelling and lysis.

Pathway Regulation - Controlling the Cashflow

  • Pyruvate Kinase (PK): The final, irreversible, and highly regulated step of glycolysis.
  • Feed-Forward Activation: An ↑ in Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate (from the PFK-1 step) signals substrate availability and allosterically activates PK.
  • Inhibition (Energy is High):
    • ↑ ATP (allosteric)
    • ↑ Alanine (allosteric, signals building blocks are plentiful)

Tissue-Specific Regulation: In the liver, glucagon activates PKA, which phosphorylates and inactivates PK. This conserves glucose during fasting. Muscle PK is not regulated by this mechanism.

Pyruvate Kinase: Allosteric Regulation

📌 Mnemonic: ATP & Alanine Arrest PK activity.

Clinical Correlates - When the ATM Breaks

  • Pyruvate Kinase (PK) Deficiency: An autosomal recessive disorder causing ↓ ATP production in RBCs.
  • Pathophysiology: ↓ ATP leads to RBC membrane instability, resulting in chronic extravascular hemolysis.
  • Clinical Findings:
    • Presents in newborns with hemolytic anemia, jaundice, and splenomegaly.
    • Labs: Normocytic anemia, ↑ reticulocytes, ↑ unconjugated bilirubin.
    • Peripheral smear shows burr cells (echinocytes).

Red blood cell morphology variations

⭐ Unlike G6PD deficiency, hemolysis is chronic and no Heinz bodies are formed, as the HMP shunt is intact.

  • Direct ATP synthesis where a phosphate group is transferred from a high-energy substrate directly to ADP.
  • Occurs twice in the payoff phase of glycolysis, catalyzed by Phosphoglycerate Kinase and Pyruvate Kinase.
  • The high-energy donor molecules are 1,3-Bisphosphoglycerate and Phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP).
  • Produces a net total of 2 ATP per glucose molecule through this mechanism.
  • It is an anaerobic process, not requiring oxygen or the electron transport chain.
  • Crucial for ATP production in RBCs.

Practice Questions: Substrate-level phosphorylation

Test your understanding with these related questions

A 45-year-old man is brought to the emergency department by ambulance after vomiting blood. The patient reports that he only ate a small snack the morning before and had not eaten anything for over 24 hours. At the hospital, the patient is stabilized. He is admitted to a surgical floor and placed on NPO with a nasogastric tube set to intermittent suction. He has been previously diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. An esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) has been planned for the next afternoon. At the time of endoscopy, some pathways were generating glucose to maintain serum glucose levels. Which of the following enzymes catalyzes the irreversible biochemical reaction of this process?

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Flashcards: Substrate-level phosphorylation

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Conversion of 1,3-BPG into 3-phosphoglycerate (glycolysis) produces a molecule of _____

TAP TO REVEAL ANSWER

Conversion of 1,3-BPG into 3-phosphoglycerate (glycolysis) produces a molecule of _____

ATP

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