What are metabolic pathways?

Metabolic pathways are the series of biochemical reactions within a cell that comprise a cell’s metabolism. Enzymes play an important role in metabolic pathways, as they help catalyze reactions by lowering the activation energy needed to convert substrates into products.

Some major metabolic pathways include glycolysis, the citric acid cycle, oxidative phosphorylation, fatty acid beta-oxidation, and gluconeogenesis.