What happens to pyruvate after glycolysis?

Glycolysis is a series of reactions which convert one molecule of glucose into two molecules of pyruvate. Pyruvate molecules generated at the end of glycolysis are transported into the matrix of the mitochondria via 2 proteins which are mitochondrial pyruvate-carriers 1 and 2 (MCP1 and MCP2). After glycolysis, pyruvate goes through pyruvate oxidation. Pyruvate becomes oxidized and converted into an acetyl group that will become attached to and activated by the carrier compound coenzyme A (CoA) to form acetyl CoA. Pyruvate dehydrogenase complex catalyzes the reactions of oxidation and decarboxylation for the generation of acetyl-CoA. This breakdown of pyruvate occurs in three steps. In step 1, a carboxyl group is removed from pyruvate, releasing carbon dioxide into the surrounding environment. This is the first of six carbons from the original glucose to be removed, and this step occurs twice for every molecule of glucose metabolized. The outcome of this step is a two-carbon hydroxyethyl group bound to pyruvate dehydrogenase, consisting of a carbon group and methyl group. In step 2, NAD+ is reduced to NADH. The hydroxyethyl group is oxidized to an acetyl group and electrons are picked up by NAD+ to form NADH. In step 3, an acetyl group is transferred to coenzyme A, forming acetyl CoA. 

In anaerobic conditions, pyruvate instead converts to lactate through anaerobic glycolysis, and pyruvate will undergo fermentation. The process of fermentation results in the reduction of pyruvate to form lactic acid and the oxidation of NADH to form NAD+. Pyruvate is converted to lactate by fermentation using the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase and the coenzyme NADH in lactate fermentation. Electrons from NADH and a proton are used to reduce pyruvate into lactate. Lactate is produced in animals, while ethanol is formed in microorganisms and plants.In alcohol fermentation, pyruvate is converted to acetaldehyde and then to ethanol. Fermentation will recycle and replenish NAD+ from the NADH+ H+ produced in glycolysis.