The glycerol phosphate shuttle is a secondary mechanism for the transport of electrons from cytosolic NADH to mitochondrial carriers of the oxidative phosphorylation pathway. The primary cytoplasmic NADH electron shuttle is the malate-aspartate shuttle. Two enzymes are involved in this shuttle. One is the cytosolic version of the enzyme glycerol-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (glycerol-3-PDH) which has as one substrate, NADH. The second is is the mitochondrial form of the enzyme which has as one of its' substrates, FAD+. The net result is that there is a continual conversion of the glycolytic intermediate, DHAP and glycerol-3-phosphate with the concomitant transfer of the electrons from reduced cytosolic NADH to mitochondrial oxidized FAD+. Since the electrons from mitochondrial FADH2 feed into the oxidative phosphorylation pathway at coenzyme Q (as opposed to NADH-ubiquinone oxidoreductase [complex I]) only 2 moles of ATP will be generated from glycolysis. G3PDH is glyceraldehyde-3-phoshate dehydrogenase.

Google
 

return to Glycolysis Page
return to Gluconeogenesis Page
return to Oxidative Phosphorylation Page
Return to The Medical Biochemistry Page
Michael W. King, Ph.D / IU School of Medicine / miking at iupui.edu

Last modified: March 29, 2008