Oxidative phosphorylation

From Freepedia

Oxidative phosphorylation is a biochemical process in cells. It is the final metabolic pathway of cellular respiration, after glycolysis and the citric acid cycle.

The process takes place at a biological membrane. In prokaryotes this is the plasma membrane, and in eukaryotes it is the inner of the two mitochondrial membranes.

NADH and FADH₂, electron carrier molecules that were "loaded" during the citric acid cycle, are used in an electron transfer chain (involving NADH-Q reductase, succinate dehydrogenase, cytochrome reductase and cytochrome c oxidase) and to pump H⁺ across the membrane against a proton gradient.

A large protein complex called ATP synthase is embedded in that membrane and enables protons to pass through in both directions; it generates ATP from ADP and a phosphate when the proton moves with (down) the gradient, and it costs ATP to pump a proton against (up) the gradient. Because protons have already been pumped into the intermembrane space against the gradient, they now can flow back into the mitochondrial matrix via the ATP synthase, generating ATP in the process. The reaction is:

ADP^3- + H⁺ + P_i ↔ ATP^4- + H₂O

Each NADH molecule contributes enough proton motive force to generate 2.5 ATP. Each FADH₂ molecule is worth 1.5 ATP. All together, the 10 NADH and 2 FADH₂ molecules contributed through oxidation of glucose (glycolysis, conversion of pyruvate to acetyl-CoA, and the Krebs cycle) account for 28 of the 30 total ATP energy carrier molecules. It is worth noting that these ATP values are maximum values and in reality proton leaks across the membrane cause somewhat lower values.

Photophosphorylation, which occurs when plants synthesize glucose during photosynthesis, also uses ATP synthase and a proton gradient to generate ATP. The process occurs across the thylakoid membrane when chlorophyll is energyzed by light and donates an excited electron to an electron transport chain.

Reactive oxygen species

Several highly reactive, transient oxygen derivatives can be formed during this process:

1. Hydrogen peroxide
2. Superoxide anion
3. Hydroxyl radical

External links

• Interactive Molecular model of succinate dehydrogenase
• Interactive Molecular model of Coenzyme Q - cytochrome c reductase
• Interactive Molecular model of cytochrome c oxidase