1.) What is the cellular role of glutathione and how is it related to NADPH? ---

Question

1.) What is the cellular role of glutathione and how is it related to NADPH?

----Many metabolic expirements are performed using substrates contianing radioactive isotopes such as 14^C. Substrates, for example gluccose, can be synthesized with radioactive isotopes in known locations within a molecule Specifically, 6 different gluccose molecules could be made with different carbon labeled in each position. It is known that gluccose can be metabolized to a variety of products in cluding pyruvate,carbon dioxide, and others through several different pathways such as glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. By knowing which carbon is labeled in a given expirement, scientist can learn something about metabolic pathways used under given conditions by detecting radiolabeled substrates for a finite period of time after which the desired metabolic product, for example carbon dioxide, would be collected and measured for radioactivity.

2.) Which carbon would need to be labeled in gluccos in order for it to be detected in carbon dioxide as an indicator of gluccose entry into the pentose phosphate pathway?

Explanation / Answer

1) Glutathione is an important anti oxidant, that prevents cellular damage to the RBC and other important cells in the body. This glutathione is oxidized and reduced, in the presence of glutathione reductase. This enzyme reduces glutathione disulfide(GSSG) to the sulfydryl form GSH, which is an important cellular antioxidant. For every one mole of oxidized GSSG, one mole of NADPH is required to reduce GSSG to GSH. So, in this way they are related. 2) First carbon (C1) is radiolabelled in glucose in order to detect carbon dioxide as an indicator of gluccose entry into the pentose phosphate pathway.

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