Glycolysis is a metabolic pathway that converts glucose into pyruvate, releasing energy in the form of ATP and NADH.
The process begins with glucose, a six-carbon sugar, which is phosphorylated and rearranged into fructose-1,6-bisphosphate.
Fructose-1,6-bisphosphate is then split into two three-carbon molecules: glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate and dihydroxyacetone phosphate.
These three-carbon molecules undergo a series of reactions that result in the production of pyruvate, a three-carbon compound.
Throughout glycolysis, two molecules of ATP are consumed, and four molecules of ATP are produced, resulting in a net gain of two ATP molecules per glucose molecule.