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Pyruvate is first converted by pyruvate carboxylase to oxaloacetate (OAA) in the mitochondrion requiring hydrolysis of one molecule of ATP. However, during starvation when cytosolic NADH concentration is low and mitochrondrial NADH levels are high oxaloacetate can be used as a shuttle of reducing equivalents.
Similarly one may ask, which coenzyme is required for the conversion of pyruvate to oxaloacetate?
acetyl Coenzyme A
Herein, how is Oxaloacetate used in gluconeogenesis?
Gluconeogenesis begins in the mitochondria with the formation of oxaloacetate by the carboxylation of pyruvate. This reaction also requires one molecule of ATP, and is catalyzed by pyruvate carboxylase. Oxaloacetate is decarboxylated and then phosphorylated to form phosphoenolpyruvate using the enzyme PEPCK.
Aspartate and asparagine are converted into oxaloacetate, a citric acid cycle intermediate. Aspartate, a four-carbon amino acid, is directly transaminated to oxaloacetate.