Hi everyone!
Don’t lose points trying to memorize pathways from the first intermediate to the last.
That works until the MCAT gives you a condition instead of a recall question like
ATP is high
NADH is building up
insulin is elevated
Start every pathway review with the control point question:
What step tells the cell whether this pathway should keep going?
For glycolysis, think about phosphofructokinase-1. If ATP is high, the cell already has energy, so PFK-1 slows down. If AMP is high, the cell needs energy, so glycolysis turns up.
Example:
Glycolysis turns on when the cell needs ATP because breaking down glucose produces usable energy, and slows down when ATP is high because the cell does not need to keep extracting energy from glucose.
Do this for glycolysis, gluconeogenesis, glycogen synthesis, glycogen breakdown, fatty acid synthesis, beta oxidation, and the TCA cycle.
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