Dihydroxyacetone phosphate

Role in glycolysis

Dihydroxyacetone phosphate lies in the glycolysis metabolic pathway, and is one of the two products of breakdown of fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, along with glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate. It is rapidly and reversibly isomerised to glyceraldehyde 3-phosphate.

|reaction_direction_(forward/reversible/reverse)=reversible |minor_forward_substrate(s)= |minor_forward_product(s)= |minor_reverse_product(s)= |minor_reverse_substrate(s)=

The numbering of the carbon atoms indicates the fate of the carbons according to their position in fructose 6-phosphate.

|reaction_direction_(forward/reversible/reverse)=reversible |minor_forward_substrate(s)= |minor_forward_product(s)= |minor_reverse_substrate(s)= |minor_reverse_product(s)=

Role in other pathways

In the Calvin cycle, DHAP is one of the products of the sixfold reduction of 1,3-bisphosphoglycerate by NADPH. It is also used in the synthesis of sedoheptulose 1,7-bisphosphate and fructose 1,6-bisphosphate, both of which are used to reform ribulose 5-phosphate, the 'key' carbohydrate of the Calvin cycle.

DHAP is also the product of the dehydrogenation of L-glycerol-3-phosphate, which is part of the entry of glycerol (sourced from triglycerides) into the glycolytic pathway. Conversely, reduction of glycolysis-derived DHAP to L-glycerol-3-phosphate provides adipose cells with the activated glycerol backbone they require to synthesize new triglycerides. Both reactions are catalyzed by the enzyme glycerol 3-phosphate dehydrogenase with NAD+/NADH as cofactor.

DHAP also has a role in the ether-lipid biosynthesis process in the protozoan parasite Leishmania mexicana.

DHAP is a precursor to 2-oxopropanal. This conversion is the basis of a potential biotechnological route to the commodity chemical 1,2-propanediol.

References

References

1. Berg, Jeremy M.. (2002). "Biochemistry". [[W.H. Freeman and Company]].
2. Nelson, D. L.; Cox, M. M. "Lehninger, Principles of Biochemistry" 3rd Ed. Worth Publishing: New York, 2000. {{ISBN. 1-57259-153-6.
3. Carl J. Sullivan, Anja Kuenz, Klaus‐Dieter Vorlop. (2018). "Propanediols".