The main sugar broken down to supply cellular energy.
Blood glucose is tightly regulated. Glucose can be stored as glycogen, converted to fat, or used by tissues; the brain uses about 120 g per day. Other fuels include fatty acids and, in starvation, ketone bodies.
Glucose enters cells via GLUT transporters, regulated by insulin in muscle and fat. Cells keep glucose phosphorylated to trap it.
Remember: excess glucose is converted to glycogen and fat.
The main sugar broken down to supply cellular energy.
Glucose as Fuel is one of the 53 topics in Metabolism & Bioenergetics. It is rated Beginner, so it suits learners who are starting out in biology. Related topics in this area include Ketone Body Metabolism, Gluconeogenesis, Protein Catabolism.
Red blood cells rely wholly on glycolysis since they have no mitochondria.
Glucose as Fuel is a Beginner topic, so no earlier topic is required. Other Beginner topics in Metabolism & Bioenergetics that pair well with it include Metabolism, Anabolism and Catabolism, ATP.
The closest topics to Glucose as Fuel are Ketone Body Metabolism, Gluconeogenesis, Protein Catabolism, Glycogen Metabolism. Comparing them side by side is a good way to see how the ideas connect.
Read the summary and the in-depth section, then use the quick check on the interactive lesson for Glucose as Fuel. To practise the whole of Metabolism & Bioenergetics, use the Metabolism & Bioenergetics quiz.
Glucose as Fuel: The main sugar broken down to supply cellular energy. Ketone Body Metabolism: During fasting the liver makes ketones from fatty acids as alternative fuel for the brain. Read both side by side and note what each one explains.
First, read the summary and write the definition in your own words. Second, read the in-depth section and note any example. Third, compare it with Ketone Body Metabolism and explain the difference aloud. Finally, take the Metabolism & Bioenergetics quiz and come back to this page for any question you miss.
During fasting the liver makes ketones from fatty acids as alternative fuel for the brain.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsSynthesis of glucose from non-carbohydrate precursors such as lactate and amino acids, mainly in the liver.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsAmino acids are deaminated and their carbon skeletons enter respiration, with nitrogen excreted as urea.
⚡ Metabolism & BioenergeticsGlycogenesis stores glucose as glycogen and glycogenolysis breaks it down when energy is needed.
⚡ Metabolism & Bioenergetics