MedGames
Pentose Phosphate Pathway (HMP Shunt)
Important Points About the Pentose Phosphate Pathway/HMP Shunt
Products: NADPH, Ribose-5-phosphate (for nucleotide synthesis), G3P (used in glycolysis), and fructose-6-phosphate (can be used in glycolysis).​
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Oxidative/Irreversible Steps: Glucose-6-phosphate to ribulose-5-phosphate
Nonoxidative/Reversible Steps: Ribulose-5-phosphate onwards
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Mnemonics:
For the oxidative/irreversible steps only.
For the Pentose Phosphate Picnic: Grab 6 plates, 6 potatoes, and Ribs.
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Grab - Glucose-6-phosphate
6 plates - 6-phosphogluconolactone (plates have NO food on them like 6-phosphogluconolactone has "no" in it)
6 potatoes (and) - 6-phosphogluconate
Ribs - Ribulose-5-phosphate
Review Videos:
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Pentose Phosphate Pathway- Ninja Nerd is, hands down, the best lecture source for hemostasis. Instead of just going through a list of clotting factors, he helps you visualize and truly understand the process. He also has a Pentose Phosphate Pathway Regulation video for extra information.
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The Pentose Phosphate Pathway Made Easy- This 5 minute video covers the basic purpose, location, and byproducts of the HMP shunt as well as the showing the chemical structures of the different intermediate substrates.
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Pentose Phosphate Pathway- Kahn Academy doesn't always have higher level medical/biochemistry videos (they usually focus on standard high school and university courses) but in this case, they delivered a great video to watch.
Other Resources:
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Pentose phosphate pathway - Kahn Academy's free written description with images, nestled in a larger metabolism course.
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The Pentose Phosphate Pathway in Health and Disease - A more academic article with descriptions of this pathway and it's related disease. It includes clear diagrams to help make sense of the whole thing.