Transfer of Energy to the Electron Transport Chain
- The electron transport chain is made up of a series of redox reactions that occur via membrane proteins (also known as electron carriers) embedded into the inner mitochondrial membrane
- The chain is used to transport electrons and move protons (hydrogen ions) across the membrane
- Electron carriers are positioned close together which allows the electrons to pass from carrier to carrier
- The cristae of the mitochondria are impermeable to protons so the electron carriers are needed to pump them across the membrane to establish a proton (or electrochemical) concentration gradient that can be used to power oxidative phosphorylation
- Energy is transferred when a pair of electrons is passed to the first carrier in the chain
- This converts reduced NAD back to NAD
- The reduced NAD comes from glycolysis, the link reaction and the Krebs cycle
- This converts reduced NAD back to NAD
- H+ (protons) are created when electrons are removed from hydrogen atoms
- These protons play a role in generating ATP in the electron transport chain
- As electrons, that are received from reduced NAD (and FAD), are transported along the electron carriers, energy is released in a controlled manner
- This energy is used to form ATP by adding Pi to ADP
- 3 ATP molecules are produced for every molecule of reduced NAD
- This contributes to the total yield of 32 ATP molecules per molecule of glucose oxidised during aerobic respiration
- This energy is used to form ATP by adding Pi to ADP
- Oxygen acts as the final electron acceptor in the chain and forms water