Oxidative phosphorylation transport

The term vitamin K2 was applied to 2-methyl-3-difarnesyl-l,4-naphthoquinone, m.p. 54 C, isolated from putrefied fish meal. It now includes a group of related natural compounds ( menaquinones ), differing in the number of isoprene units in the side chain and in their degree of unsaturation. These quinones also appear to be involved in the electron transport chain and oxidative phosphorylation. 

ELAVOPROTEINS. Flavin is an essential substance for the activity of a number of important oxidoreductases. We discuss the chemistry of flavin and its derivatives, FMN and FAD, in the chapter on electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation (Chapter 21). 

Glycolysis and the citric acid cycle (to be discussed in Chapter 20) are coupled via phosphofructokinase, because citrate, an intermediate in the citric acid cycle, is an allosteric inhibitor of phosphofructokinase. When the citric acid cycle reaches saturation, glycolysis (which feeds the citric acid cycle under aerobic conditions) slows down. The citric acid cycle directs electrons into the electron transport chain (for the purpose of ATP synthesis in oxidative phosphorylation) and also provides precursor molecules for biosynthetic pathways. Inhibition of glycolysis by citrate ensures that glucose will not be committed to these activities if the citric acid cycle is already saturated. 

FIGURE 20.1 Pyruvate produced hi glycolysis is oxidized in the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle. Electrons liberated in this oxidation flow through the electron transport chain and drive the synthesis of ATP in oxidative phosphorylation. In eukaryotic cells, this overall process occurs in mitochondria. 

All six carbons of glucose are liberated as CO2, and a total of four molecules of ATP are formed thus far in substrate-level phosphorylations. The 12 reduced coenzymes produced up to this point can eventually produce a maximum of 34 molecules of ATP in the electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation pathways. A stoichiometric relationship for these subsequent processes is 1... 

Thus, a total of 3 ATP per NADH and 2 ATP per FADHa rnay be produced through the processes of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation. 

Wall Piece IV (1985), a kinetic sculpture by George Rhoads. This complex meehanieal art form can be viewed as a metaphor for the molecular apparatus underlying electron transport and ATP synthesis by oxidative phosphorylation. (1985 ty George Rhoaeh)... 

Electron Transport and Oxidative Phosphorylation Are Memhrane-Associated Processes... 

The processes of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation are membrane-associated. Bacteria are the simplest life form, and bacterial cells typically consist of a single cellular compartment surrounded by a plasma membrane and a more rigid cell wall. In such a system, the conversion of energy from NADH and [FADHg] to the energy of ATP via electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation is carried out at (and across) the plasma membrane. In eukaryotic cells, electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation are localized in mitochondria, which are also the sites of TCA cycle activity and (as we shall see in Chapter 24) fatty acid oxidation. Mammalian cells contain from 800 to 2500 mitochondria other types of cells may have as few as one or two or as many as half a million mitochondria. Human erythrocytes, whose purpose is simply to transport oxygen to tissues, contain no mitochondria at all. The typical mitochondrion is about 0.5 0.3 microns in diameter and from 0.5 micron to several microns long its overall shape is sensitive to metabolic conditions in the cell. 

The unique properties and actions of an inhibitory substance can often help to identify aspects of an enzyme mechanism. Many details of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation mechanisms have been gained from studying the effects of particular inhibitors. Figure 21.29 presents the structures of some electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation inhibitors. The sites of inhibition by these agents are indicated in Figure 21.30. 

FIGURE 21.29 The structures of several inhibitors of electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation. 

ATP results from the movement of approximately three protons from the cytosol into the matrix through Fg. Altogether this means that approximately four protons are transported into the matrix per ATP synthesized. Thus, approximately one-fourth of the energy derived from the respiratory chain (electron transport and oxidative phosphorylation) is expended as the electrochemical energy devoted to mitochondrial ATP-ADP transport. 

Because the 2 NADH formed in glycolysis are transported by the glycerol phosphate shuttle in this case, they each yield only 1.5 ATP, as already described. On the other hand, if these 2 NADH take part in the malate-aspartate shuttle, each yields 2.5 ATP, giving a total (in this case) of 32 ATP formed per glucose oxidized. Most of the ATP—26 out of 30 or 28 out of 32—is produced by oxidative phosphorylation only 4 ATP molecules result from direct synthesis during glycolysis and the TCA cycle. 

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