Substrate-level phosphorylation
Substrate-level phosphorylation is a metabolic reaction that results in the formation of ATP or GTP by the direct transfer of a phosphoryl (PO3) group to ADP or GDP from another phosphorylated compound.
Unlike oxidative phosphorylation, oxidation and phosphorylation are not coupled in the process of substrate-level phosphorylation, and reactive intermediates are most often gained in the course of oxidation processes in catabolism. Most ATP is generated by oxidative phosphorylation in aerobic or anaerobic respiration while substrate-level phosphorylation provides a quicker, less efficient source of ATP, independent of external electron acceptors. This is the case in human erythrocytes, which have no mitochondria, and in oxygen-depleted muscle.
Substrate-level phosphorylation occurs in the cytoplasm of cells during glycolysis and in mitochondria during the Krebs cycle under both aerobic and anaerobic conditions. In the pay-off phase of glycolysis, a net of 2 ATP are produced by substrate-level phosphorylation.
The first substrate-level phosphorylation occurs after the conversion of 3-phosphoglyceraldehyde and Pi and NAD+ to 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate via glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate dehydrogenase. 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate is then dephosphorylated via phosphoglycerate kinase, producing 3-phosphoglycerate and ATP through a substrate-level phosphorylation.
The second substrate-level phosphorylation occurs by dephosphorylating phosphoenolpyruvate (phosphoenolpyruvic acid), catalyzed by pyruvate kinase, producing pyruvate and ATP.
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