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Electron Transport Chain

CARL/NARADA

Oxidative phosphorylation is a highly efficient method of producing large


amounts of ATP, the basic unit of energy for metabolic processes. During this
process electrons are exchanged between molecules, which creates a chemical
gradient that allows for the production of ATP.

The most vital part of this process is the electron transport chain, which
produces more ATP than any other part of cellular respiration.

The electron transport chain is the final component of aerobic respiration and is
the only part of glucose metabolism that uses atmospheric oxygen. Electron
transport is a series of redox reactions that resemble a relay race. Electrons are
passed rapidly from one component to the next to the endpoint of the chain,
where the electrons reduce molecular oxygen, producing water.

This requirement for oxygen in the final stages of the chain can be seen in
the overall equation for cellular respiration, which requires both glucose
and oxygen.

The electron transport chain: The electron transport chain is a series of


electron transporters embedded in the inner mitochondrial membrane
that shuttles electrons from NADH and FADH2 to molecular oxygen. In
the process, protons are pumped from the mitochondrial matrix to the
intermembrane space, and oxygen is reduced to form water.

ARCILLA/PAQUEO

I - A prosthetic group is a non-protein molecule required for the activity


of a protein. Prosthetic groups can be organic or inorganic and are non-
peptide molecules bound to a protein that facilitate its function.
it is in this way that the hydrogen ion gradient is established and
maintained between the two compartments separated by the inner
mitochondrial membrane.

II - Q receives the electrons derived from NADH from complex I and the
electrons derived from FADH2 from complex II, including succinate
dehydrogenase.

Since these electrons bypass, and thus do not energize, the proton pump in
the first complex, fewer ATP molecules are made from the FADH2
electrons.

III - Cytochrome proteins have a prosthetic heme group. The heme


molecule is similar to the heme in hemoglobin, but it carries electrons, not
oxygen.
The heme molecules in the cytochromes have slightly different
characteristics due to the effects of the different proteins binding them,
which makes each complex.
however, whereas Q carries pairs of electrons, cytochrome c can accept
only one at a time.

GAB

Chemiosmosis and Oxidative Phosphorylation


Chemiosmosis is the movement of ions across a selectively permeable membrane,
down their electrochemical gradient.

During chemiosmosis, electron carriers like NADH and FADH donate electrons to the
electron transport chain. The electrons cause conformation changes in the shapes of
the proteins to pump H+ across a selectively permeable cell membrane.  The uneven
distribution of H+ ions across the membrane establishes both concentration and
electrical gradients (thus, an electrochemical gradient) owing to the hydrogen ions’
positive charge and their aggregation on one side of the membrane.

If the membrane were open to diffusion by the hydrogen ions, the ions would tend to
spontaneously diffuse back across into the matrix, driven by their electrochemical
gradient. However, many ions cannot diffuse through the nonpolar regions of
phospholipid membranes without the aid of ion channels. Similarly, hydrogen ions in
the matrix space can only pass through the inner mitochondrial membrane through a
membrane protein called ATP synthase. This protein acts as a tiny generator turned by
the force of the hydrogen ions diffusing through it, down their electrochemical
gradient. The turning of this molecular machine harnesses the potential energy stored
in the hydrogen ion gradient to add a phosphate to ADP, forming ATP.

Chemiosmosis is used to generate 90 percent of the ATP made during aerobic glucose
catabolism. The production of ATP using the process of chemiosmosis in
mitochondria is called oxidative phosphorylation. It is also the method used in the
light reactions of photosynthesis to harness the energy of sunlight in the process of
photophosphorylation. The overall result of these reactions is the production of ATP
from the energy of the electrons removed from hydrogen atoms. These atoms were
originally part of a glucose molecule. At the end of the pathway, the electrons are
used to reduce an oxygen molecule to oxygen ions. The extra electrons on the oxygen
attract hydrogen ions (protons) from the surrounding medium and water is formed.

ATP Yield
The amount of energy (as ATP) gained from glucose catabolism varies across species
and depends on other related cellular processes.

In a eukaryotic cell, the process of cellular respiration can metabolize one molecule of
glucose into 30 to 32 ATP. The process of glycolysis only produces two ATP, while
all the rest are produced during the electron transport chain. Clearly, the electron
transport chain is vastly more efficient, but it can only be carried out in the presence
of oxygen.

The number of ATP molecules generated via the catabolism of glucose can vary
substantially. For example, the number of hydrogen ions the electron transport chain
complexes can pump through the membrane varies between species. Another source
of variance occurs during the shuttle of electrons across the membranes of the
mitochondria. The NADH generated from glycolysis cannot easily enter
mitochondria. Thus, electrons are picked up on the inside of mitochondria by either
NAD+ or FAD+. These FAD+ molecules can transport fewer ions; consequently, fewer
ATP molecules are generated when FAD+ acts as a carrier. NAD+ is used as the
electron transporter in the liver, and FAD+ acts in the brain.

Another factor that affects the yield of ATP molecules generated from glucose is the
fact that intermediate compounds in these pathways are used for other purposes.
Glucose catabolism connects with the pathways that build or break down all other
biochemical compounds in cells, but the result is not always ideal. For example,
sugars other than glucose are fed into the glycolytic pathway for energy extraction.
Moreover, the five-carbon sugars that form nucleic acids are made from intermediates
in glycolysis. Certain nonessential amino acids can be made from intermediates of
both glycolysis and the citric acid cycle. Lipids, such as cholesterol and triglycerides,
are also made from intermediates in these pathways, and both amino acids and
triglycerides are broken down for energy through these pathways. Overall, in living
systems, these pathways of glucose catabolism extract about 34 percent of the energy
contained in glucose.

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