Glucose

How would you explain the connection between glucose entering the body and energy created by the body to a friend, using your new biochemistry knowledge?

Well fortunately, I could draw heavily upon both my knowledge gained by taking a year of A & P and also from the text book that we used in the class, the Fundamentals of Anatomy & Physiology 2008, written by Martini and Nath. I would have to choose the friend to whom I chose to explain this process too carefully, but nevertheless, here is how it would go.

Glucose is a six carbon sugar, C6H12O6 and is the preferred energy source for most cells and in most circumstances is the only energy source available for one’s neurons, due to the blood brain barrier existing in mammals. When we take in food, our bodies convert this food into smaller molecular subunits. This process is known as catabolism and is the backbone of our existence so to speak. Well once we get the food broken down, the cells of our body typically receive the byproduct of the catabolic or digestive process in the form of glucose from the blood.

The cells in turn actively transports these critical molecules into the cell membrane and ultimately to the mitochondria, where the sugar is further catabolized. The molecules of sugar are broken down into many other intermediate products, until these products are broken down to acetyl CO enzyme a, thus the cycle, same starting and ending product. Ultimately ATP synthase is to be driven by an H+ ion gradient and the cycle goes on in our own bodies each and every day. It is just fascinating, Are you still awake?