PentosePhosphatePathway.pptVIP

Pentose Phosphate Pathway Gateway to Ribose and NADPH * The pentose phosphate (PP) pathway serves a number of functions. As the name implies, pentose biosynthesis is through this pathway. Ribose, ribulose, xylulose, are typical 5-carbon sugars made in the pathway. Because pathway reactions lead to fructose-6-PO4 and glyceraldehyde-3-PO4 in a round about way, early workers considered its only function was to backup glycolysis. The PP pathway, however, is a major producer of NADPH for the synthesis of fatty acids, which you will study later. Look for two unique enzymes “transketolase and tra