Biochem/physiol Actions

D-Xylulose 5-phosphate (D-Xu-5-P) is a metabolite of the hexose monophosphate pathway activating protein phosphatase 2A to mediate the acute effects of carbohydrate feeding on the glycolytic pathway, the coordinated control of enzymes required in fatty acid & triglyceride synthesis. D-Xylulose 5-phosphate is the signal for the coordinated control of lipogenesis. The elevation of D-Xylulose 5-phosphate is the coordinating signal that both acutely activates phosphofructokinase in glycolysis and promotes the action of the transcription factor ChREBP to increase transcription of the genes for the enzymes of lipogenesis, the hexose monophosphate shunt, and glycolysis, all of which are required for the de novo synthesis of fat.