| pentose | <chemistry> Sugar (monosaccharide) with five carbon atoms. Include ribose and deoxyribose of nucleic acids and many others such as the aldoses arabinose and xylose and the ketoses ribulose and xylulose. (12 Dec 1998) |
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| pentose monophosphate shunt | <biochemistry> A pathway of hexose oxidation in which glucose-6-phosphate undergoes two successive oxidations by NADP, the final one being an oxidative decarboxylation to form a pentose phosphate. Diverges from this when glucose-6-phosphate is oxidized to ribose 5 phosphate by the enzyme glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase. This step reduces NADP to NADPH, generating a source of reducing power in cells for use in reductive biosyntheses. In plants, part of the pathway functions in the formation of hexoses from carbon dioxide in photosynthesis. Also important as source of pentoses, for example for nucleic acid biosynthesis. This pathway is the main metabolic pathway in neutrophils, congenital deficiency in the pathway produces sensitivity to infection. Alternative metabolic route to Embden Meyerhof pathway for breakdown of glucose. (18 Nov 1997) |
| pentose phosphate cycle | <biochemistry> A pathway of hexose oxidation in which glucose-6-phosphate undergoes two successive oxidations by NADP, the final one being an oxidative decarboxylation to form a pentose phosphate. Diverges from this when glucose-6-phosphate is oxidized to ribose 5 phosphate by the enzyme glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase. This step reduces NADP to NADPH, generating a source of reducing power in cells for use in reductive biosyntheses. In plants, part of the pathway functions in the formation of hexoses from carbon dioxide in photosynthesis. Also important as source of pentoses, for example for nucleic acid biosynthesis. This pathway is the main metabolic pathway in neutrophils, congenital deficiency in the pathway produces sensitivity to infection. Alternative metabolic route to Embden Meyerhof pathway for breakdown of glucose. (18 Nov 1997) |
| pentose phosphate pathway | <biochemistry> A pathway of hexose oxidation in which glucose-6-phosphate undergoes two successive oxidations by NADP, the final one being an oxidative decarboxylation to form a pentose phosphate. Diverges from this when glucose-6-phosphate is oxidized to ribose 5 phosphate by the enzyme glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase. This step reduces NADP to NADPH, generating a source of reducing power in cells for use in reductive biosyntheses. In plants, part of the pathway functions in the formation of hexoses from carbon dioxide in photosynthesis. Also important as source of pentoses, for example for nucleic acid biosynthesis. This pathway is the main metabolic pathway in neutrophils, congenital deficiency in the pathway produces sensitivity to infection. Alternative metabolic route to Embden Meyerhof pathway for breakdown of glucose. (18 Nov 1997) |
| pentoses | A class of carbohydrates that contains five carbon atoms. (12 Dec 1998) |