Question

if you wanted to test red blood cells for their ability to complete glycolysis, what compound would you try to detect

Answer 1

Answer:

Pyruvate

Explanation:

Glycolysis refers to the pathway through glucose is oxidized to pyruvate.

In glycolysis, a molecule of glucose passes through ten enzyme catalyzed steps to yield two molecules of pyruvate.

Step 1: Glucose is phosphorylated to form glucose-6-phosphate

Step 2: Glucose-6-phosphate is converted to fructose-6-phosphate

Step 3: Fructose-6-phosphate is further phosphorylated to form fructose-1,6-bisphosphate

Step 4: Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate is cleaved into glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate

Step 5: Dihydroxyacetone phosphate is converted to another molecule of glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate.

Step 6: Two molecules of Glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate are converted to two molecules of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate

Step 7: Two molecules of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate are converted to 3-phosphoglycerate

Step 8: Two molecules of 3-phosphoglycerate are converted to two molecules of 2-phosphoglycerate

Step 9: Two molecules of 2-phosphoglycerate are converted to two molecules of phosphoenolpyruvate

Step 10: Two molecules of phosphoenolpyruvate are converted to two molecules of  pyruvate, the end-product of glycolysis.

Therefore, the presence of pyruvate molecules in red blood cells can be used to test for their ability to complete glycolysis