The fate of Pyruvate. An overview
Three-carbon acidic molecules, Pyruvate plays an important role in the metabolism and production of carbohydrates as well as fatty acids. This is the result of glycolysis (the first step of the glucose breakdown) and it can be used as a fuel for the citric acid cycle. Pyruvate is also capable of being converted into other molecules. Its fate will depend on what the cells metabolic requirements are. In the majority of cells, pyruvate can be converted into acetylcoA or lactate. Gerland et. al. (2016). AcetylCoA is used to produce energy in the citric acid cycle, while anaerobic glucose is what produces lactate. When oxygen is available, pyruvate is oxidized into acetyl–CoA which can then be used to generate energy. When oxygen is missing, pyruvate becomes lactate which then is released from the cells (Sahoo and al., 2019,). Some cases of pyruvate could form other molecules like ethanol, formate or acetate. These molecules are essential for producing beer, wine and other alcoholic beverages (Gibson, 2021). You can convert pyruvate to alanine which is an important amino acid for protein synthesis. Cont….
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