In biochemistry, the Luebering–Rapoport pathway (also called the Luebering–Rapoport shunt) is a metabolic pathway in mature erythrocytes involving the formation of 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate (2,3-BPG), which regulates oxygen release from hemoglobin and delivery to tissues. 2,3-BPG, the reaction product of the Luebering–Rapoport pathway was first described and isolated in 1925 by the Austrian biochemist Samuel Mitja Rapoport and his technical assistant Jane Luebering.[1][2]
Through the Luebering–Rapoport pathway bisphosphoglycerate mutase catalyzes the transfer of a phosphoryl group from C1 to C2 of 1,3-BPG, giving 2,3-BPG. 2,3-bisphosphoglycerate, the most concentrated organophosphate in the erythrocyte, forms 3-PG by the action of bisphosphoglycerate phosphatase. The concentration of 2,3-BPG varies proportionately with the pH, since it is inhibitory to catalytic action of bisphosphoglyceromutase.
References edit
- ^ Tuffs, Annette (2004-08-07). "Samuel Mitja Rapoport". BMJ: British Medical Journal. 329 (7461): 353. ISSN 0959-8138. PMC 506868.
- ^ R. Juel: 2,3-Diphosphoglycerate: its role in health and disease. In: CRC Critical Reviews in Clinical Laboratory Sciences. 10(2)/1979. CRC Press, S. 113–146, ISSN 0590-8191