Glycolysis is a series of reactions that occurs when glucose molecules split into two 3-carbon molecules known as pyruvates, which then release energy in the form of ATP.
Starting material for glycolysis is glucose.
Glycolytic pathway:
To release ADP, ATP transfers its phosphate group to glucose. Glucose-6-phosphate is now formed from glucose.
The isomer fructose-6-phosphate is formed from glucose-6-phosphate.
ATP adds a phosphate group to fructose-6-phosphate, resulting in fructose-1,6,-biphosphate. Phosphofructokinase catalyzes this step of the pathway. It is an enzyme that regulates the glycolytic pathway's speed.
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate is then broken down into two 3-Carbon sugars. These are dihydroxyacetone phosphate (DHAP) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate isomers.
DHAP is converted to glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate. These two are then in a state of equilibrium.
When glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate is oxidized, NAD+ is reduced to NADH and H+. This is an exergonic, or energy-releasing, process. This energy then phosphorylates the molecule, resulting in 1,3-diphosphoglycerate.
One phosphate group is released by 1,3-diphosphoglycerate, which is then added to ADP to form an ATP molecule. Following that, a molecule of 3-phosphoglycerate is formed.
3-phosphoglycerate is converted to 2-phosphoglycerate.
2-phosphoglycerate degrades into phosphoenolpyruvate after releasing a molecule of H2O. (PEP).
PEP now emits a phosphate group, which joins with ADP to form ATP. PEP is converted into pyruvate, the end product of glycolysis.