Electron transport NADH dehydrogenase

This is a crucial point because (as we will see) proton transport is coupled with ATP synthesis. Oxidation of one FADHg in the electron transport chain results in synthesis of approximately two molecules of ATP, compared with the approximately three ATPs produced by the oxidation of one NADH. Other enzymes can also supply electrons to UQ, including mitochondrial 5w-glyc-erophosphate dehydrogenase, an inner membrane-bound shuttle enzyme, and the fatty acyl-CoA dehydrogenases, three soluble matrix enzymes involved in fatty acid oxidation (Figure 21.7 also see Chapter 24). The path of electrons from succinate to UQ is shown in Figure 21.8. 

Most of the NADH used in electron transport is produced in the mitochondrial matrix space, an appropriate site because NADH is oxidized by Complex I on the matrix side of the inner membrane. Furthermore, the inner mitochondrial membrane is impermeable to NADH. Recall, however, that NADH is produced in glycolysis by glyceraldehyde-3-P dehydrogenase in the cytosol. If this NADH were not oxidized to regenerate NAD, the glycolytic pathway would cease to function due to NAD limitation. Eukaryotic cells have a number of shuttle systems that harvest the electrons of cytosolic NADH for delivery to mitochondria without actually transporting NADH across the inner membrane (Figures 21.33 and 21.34). 

The second electron shuttle system, called the malate-aspartate shuttle, is shown in Figure 21.34. Oxaloacetate is reduced in the cytosol, acquiring the electrons of NADH (which is oxidized to NAD ). Malate is transported across the inner membrane, where it is reoxidized by malate dehydrogenase, converting NAD to NADH in the matrix. This mitochondrial NADH readily enters the electron transport chain. The oxaloacetate produced in this reaction cannot cross the inner membrane and must be transaminated to form aspartate, which can be transported across the membrane to the cytosolic side. Transamination in the cytosol recycles aspartate back to oxaloacetate. In contrast to the glycerol phosphate shuttle, the malate-aspartate cycle is reversible, and it operates as shown in Figure 21.34 only if the NADH/NAD ratio in the cytosol is higher than the ratio in the matrix. Because this shuttle produces NADH in the matrix, the full 2.5 ATPs per NADH are recovered. 

The third reaction of this cycle is the oxidation of the hydroxyl group at the /3-position to produce a /3-ketoacyl-CoA derivative. This second oxidation reaction is catalyzed by L-hydroxyacyl-CoA dehydrogenase, an enzyme that requires NAD as a coenzyme. NADH produced in this reaction represents metabolic energy. Each NADH produced in mitochondria by this reaction drives the synthesis of 2.5 molecules of ATP in the electron transport pathway. L-Hydroxyacyl-... 

NADH and reduced substrate dehydrogenase-flavoproteins (FPH2) must be continually reoxidized for mitochondrial oxidations to proceed. This is achieved by the electron transport chain (respiratory chain) which is a series of redox carriers of graded redox potential in the inner mitochondrial membrane (Appendix 1) that catalyzes the net reactions ... 

Ubiquinones (coenzymes Q) Q9 and Qi0 are essential cofactors (electron carriers) in the mitochondrial electron transport chain. They play a key role shuttling electrons from NADH and succinate dehydrogenases to the cytochrome b-c1 complex in the inner mitochondrial membrane. Ubiquinones are lipid-soluble compounds containing a redox active quinoid ring and a tail of 50 (Qio) or 45 (Q9) carbon atoms (Figure 29.10). The predominant ubiquinone in humans is Qio while in rodents it is Q9. Ubiquinones are especially abundant in the mitochondrial respiratory chain where their concentration is about 100 times higher than that of other electron carriers. Ubihydroquinone Q10 is also found in LDL where it supposedly exhibits the antioxidant activity (see Chapter 23). 

Many enzymes in the mitochondria, including those of the citric acid cycle and pyruvate dehydrogenase, produce NADH, aU of which can be oxidized in the electron transport chain and in the process, capture energy for ATP synthesis by oxidative phosphorylation. If NADH is produced in the cytoplasm, either the malate shuttle or the a-glycerol phosphate shuttle can transfer the electrons into the mitochondria for delivery to the ETC. Once NADH has been oxidized, the NAD can again be used by enzymes that require it. 

In the presence of adequate O, the rate of oxidative phosphorylation is dependent on the availability of ADR. The concentrations of ADR and ATR are reciprocally related an accumulation of ADR is accompanied by a decrease in ATR and the amount of energy available to the celL Therefore, ADR accumulation signals the need for ATR synthesis. ADR aUosterically activates isocitrate dehydrogenase, thereby increasing the rate of the citric acid cycle and the production of NADH and FADH. The elevated levels of these reduced coenzymes, in turn, increase the rate of electron transport and ATR synthesis. 

To begin with, let us return to the aerobic catabolism of simple sugars such as glucose to yield two molecules of pyruvate -I- two molecules of ATP - - two molecules of NADH. We noted just above that coupling the oxidation of the two molecules of NADH to the electron transport chain yields an additional six molecules of ATP, three for each molecule of NADH, for a total of eight. Now let s ask what happens when we further metabolize the two molecules of pyruvate via the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex and the citric acid cycle. 

Oxidizible substrates from glycolysis, fatty acid or protein catabolism enter the mitochondrion in the form of acetyl-CoA, or as other intermediaries of the Krebs cycle, which resides within the mitochondrial matrix. Reducing equivalents in the form of NADH and FADH pass electrons to complex I (NADH-ubiquinone oxidore-ductase) or complex II (succinate dehydrogenase) of the electron transport chain, respectively. Electrons pass from complex I and II to complex III (ubiquinol-cyto-chrome c oxidoreductase) and then to complex IV (cytochrome c oxidase) which accumulates four electrons and then tetravalently reduces O2 to water. Protons are pumped into the inner membrane space at complexes I, II and IV and then diffuse down their concentration gradient through complex V (FoFi-ATPase), where their potential energy is captured in the form of ATP. In this way, ATP formation is coupled to electron transport and the formation of water, a process termed oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). 

Figure 7-4. The electron transport chain. Electrons enter from NADH to complex I or succinate dehydrogenase, which is complex II. Electrons derived from glycolysis through the glycerol-3-phosphate shuttle, complex I, and complex II join at coenzyme Q and are transferred to oxygen as shown. As electrons pass through complexes I, III, and IV, protons are transported across the membrane, creating a pH gradient.

An effect secondary to the activation of enzymes by increased calcium levels can be increased production of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species. Thus, activation of mitochondrial dehydrogenases increases NADH production and electron transport, yet increased calcium uncouples ATP synthesis, and the excess electron generates superoxide. Calcium also activates nitric oxide synthetase. 

Figure 7.44 The metabolism and toxicity of MPTP. Diffusion into the brain is followed by metabolism in the astrocyte. The metabolite MPP+ is actively transported into the dopaminergic neuron by DAT. It is accumulated there and is actively taken into mitochondria by another uptake system. Here, it inhibits mitochondrial electron transport between NADH dehydrogenase (NADH DHase) and coenzyme Q (Q10). Consequently, it blocks the electron transport system, depletes ATP, and destroys the neuron. Abbreviations MPTP, 1-methyl-4-phenyl 1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyridine DAT, dopamine transporter uptake system.

The lipid-soluble ubiquinone (Q) is present in both bacterial and mitochondrial membranes in relatively large amounts compared to other electron carriers (Table 18-2). It seems to be located at a point of convergence of the NADH, succinate, glycerol phosphate, and choline branches of the electron transport chain. Ubiquinone plays a role somewhat like that of NADH, which carries electrons between dehydrogenases in the cytoplasm and from soluble dehydrogenases in the aqueous mitochondrial matrix to flavoproteins embedded in the membrane. Ubiquinone transfers electrons plus protons between proteins within the... 

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