The Cori cycle, named after its discoverers, Carl Cori and Gerty Cori, refers to the cycling of lactate produced by red blood cells and muscle (during anaerobic respiration) back into glucose. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... Carl Ferdinand Cori (December 5, 1896 _ October 20, 1984) was an American biochemist born in Prague (then in Austria-Hungary) who, together with his wife Gerty Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in 1947 for their discovery of how glycogen (animal starch) - a derivative of... Dr. Gerty Cori Dr. Gerty Theresa Cori, née Radnitz, (August 15, 1896 – October 26, 1957) was an American biochemist born in Prague (then Austria-Hungary) who, together with her husband Carl Ferdinand Cori and Argentine physiologist Bernardo Houssay, received a Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1947 for... Lactic acid is a chemical compound that plays a role in several biochemical processes. ... Anaerobic respiration refers to the oxidation of molecules in the absence of oxygen to produce energy, in opposition to Aerobic respiration which does use oxygen. ...

The cycle

When muscles require energy for short duration or strenuous movements, muscle cells default to anaerobic glycolysis to quickly produce abundant amounts of ATP. The byproduct of anaerobic glycolysis, lactate, diffuses into the blood and is taken up by the liver, where it is converted back into pyruvate by the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase. Pyruvate is then converted back into glucose via gluconeogenesis. The newly formed glucose is released into the blood to be used once again for energy by the red blood cells and muscle. Note that the Cori cycle is energy consuming (4 net ATP used per cycle). The liver is an organ present in vertebrates and some other animals. ... Pyruvate (CH3COCOO−) is the ionized form of pyruvic acid. ... Pyruvic acid Oxaloacetic acid Phosphoenolpyruvate Fructose 1,6-bisphosphate Fructose 6-phosphate Glucose-6-phosphate Glucose Gluconeogenesis is the generation of glucose from non-sugar carbon substrates like pyruvate, lactate, glycerol, and amino acids (primarily alanine and glutamine). ... Adenosine 5-triphosphate (ATP) is a multifunctional nucleotide that is most important as a molecular currency of intracellular energy transfer. ...

Significance

Its importance is based on the prevention of lactic acidosis in the muscle under anaerobic condition. The muscles are cramped when the lactate is accumulated. Lactate is the blind end of the biochemical reaction. The unwanted lactate can be only converted to pyruvate with lactate dehydrogenase. Lactic acidosis is a condition caused by the buildup of lactic acid in the body. ...

For red blood cells (erythrocytes), the cycle is essential as the cells do not contain the mitochrondria; the significance is to preserve the oxygen transported by the cells. The NAD⁺ can be regenerated via the lactate fermentation. The Cori cycle is essential for maintaining glycolysis in the erythrocytes as the Cori cycle continue providing the glucose molecules as the fuel molecules. Human red blood cells Red blood cells are the most common type of blood cell and are the vertebrate bodys principal means of delivering oxygen to body tissues via the blood. ... Electron micrograph of a mitochondrion showing its mitochondrial matrix and membranes In cell biology, a mitochondrion (plural mitochondria) (from Greek μιτος or mitos, thread + κουδριον or khondrion, granule) is a membrane-enclosed organelle, found in most eukaryotic cells. ... This article or section does not cite any references or sources. ...

See also

• Alanine cycle
• Tricarboxylic acid cycle (Kreb cycle)