Metabolism: Gluconeogenesis, Pentose Phosphate Pathway, and More

MCAT Basics (from MedSchoolCoach)

MedSchoolCoach

Science

4.6 • 612 Ratings

🗓️ 5 November 2024

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In this episode, we're diving deep into the nuanced aspects of metabolism that are essential yet less prominently featured on the MCAT. We'll cover gluconeogenesis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and ketone body generation—topics that, while subtle, play a crucial role in your comprehensive understanding of biochemistry.

We'll explore how your body manages glucose levels, the functions of NADPH, how glycogen is synthesized and broken down, and the metabolic adaptations during periods of low glucose.

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Jump into the conversation:
(00:00) Intro
(01:54) Pentose phosphate pathway overview
(02:42) Functions of NADPH in the body
(03:35) Difference between NADPH and NADH
(04:34) Key points to know about the pentose phosphate pathway
(07:01) Insulin and glucagon: hormonal regulation of blood glucose
(09:00) Effects of insulin & glucagon on the body
(10:48) Glycogen synthesis & breakdown
(15:51) Glycogen debranching enzyme and breakdown of branched chains
(18:49) Bypassing irreversible steps in glycolysis during gluconeogenesis
(21:19) Regulation of gluconeogenesis
(22:25) Ketogenic amino acids and their role in ketone body formation
(24:04) MCAT advice of the day: reading journal articles

Transcript

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0:00.0	Welcome to MCAT Basics, your ultimate guide to the essential topics you need to master
0:06.4	for the MCAT, brought to you by the physicians at Med School Coach.
0:11.0	Every week, Sam Smith breaks down high-yield MCAT topics, ensuring you're primed for success
0:15.8	on test day.
0:17.3	Join Sam as we explore the most crucial subjects outlined by the AAMC, pulled from official
0:22.2	practice materials and third-party resources.
0:24.9	Get ready to elevate your MCAT game with topics tailored to maximize your score potential.
0:30.7	Hello, I'm Sam Smith.
0:34.7	This podcast covers a few other topics within metabolism.
0:38.3	If you haven't listened to the previous podcast to this, that podcast went over the three main parts to metabolism that you should know for the MCAT, which are Krebs cycle, the electron transport chain, and glycolysis.
0:51.7	This podcast covers more into metabolism, but a bit more subtle topics.
0:55.8	I'm going to cover gluconeogenesis, the pentose phosphate pathway, and then talk a little bit
1:00.9	about ketone body generation or ketosis.
1:09.2	These topics are a little bit less covered on the MCAT, but still very important, and I think you should know them.
1:15.7	So here we go.
1:17.0	I'm going to start with the pentose phosphate pathway.
1:20.3	The pentose phosphate pathway has two main functions.
1:24.7	The first is that it converts glucose 6 phosphate,osphate, which is a 6-carbon sugar,
1:30.0	into ribose 5-phosphate, which is a 5-carbon sugar. And this 5-carbon sugar is an important component
1:37.3	of many biomolecules, including ATP, NAD, COA, DNA, and RNA.
1:44.8	And then the second main function of the pentose phosphate pathway is to produce NADPH.
1:50.9	So that sounds like NADH, but it is completely different.
	...

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