L12 TCA Cycle, ET Chain and Oxidative Phosphorylation Flashcards
Describe step 1 of the Krebs Cycle.
Hint: Acetyl CoA - Citrate
Acetyl group enters cycle to create citrate and regenerate coenzyme A (CoA).
Enzyme: citrate synthase
Acetyl CoA add its two-carbon fragment to oxaloacetate, a four-carbon compound. Oxaloacetate displaces coA as it attaches to the acetyl group, forming the six-carbon citrate.
CoA is then free to prime another two-carbon fragment derived from pyruvate.
Oxaloacetate is regenerated by the last step of the cycle.
Describe step 2 of the citric acid cycle.
Isomerisation of citrate to D-Isocitrate.
A molecule of water is removed and another is added back. The net result is the conversion of citrate to its isomer, isocitrate (still six-carbon molecule).
Describe step 3 of the citric acid cycle.
D-isocitrate undergoes oxidative decarboxylation to form alpha-ketoglutarate, NADH and CO2.
Enzyme: isocitrate dehydrogenase
Isocitrate loses a CO2 molecule, and the remaining five-carbon compound is oxidised, reducing NAD+ to NADH. This forms ketoglutarate.
Describe step 4 of the krebs cycle.
alpha-ketoglutarate undergoes oxidative decarboxylation alongside the addition of CoA to form succinyl-coA, NADH, H+ and CO2
Enzyme: a-ketoglutarate dehydrogenase
Ketoglutarate loses a CO2; the remaining four-carbon compound is oxidised by the transfer of electrons to NAD+ to form NADH, and is then attached to CoA by an unstable bond. This forms succinyl-CoA.
Describe step 5 of the citric acid cycle.
Succinyl-coA involved with substrate level phosphorylation: coA displaced by a phosphate group, which is transferred to GDP, forming GTP. GTP then donates a phosphate group to ADP, to form ATP.
Products: Succinate, CoA and ATP.
Enzyme: Succinyl-CoA synthetase
Describe step 6 of the krebs cycle.
Dehydration: Succinate is oxidised to fumarate; two hydrogens are transferred to FAD to form FADH2
Enzyme: succinic dehydrogenase
Describe step 7 of the citric acid cycle.
Hydration: Fumarate is converted to malate by addition of water.
Enzyme: fumarase
Describe step 8 of the citric acid cycle.
Malate is dehydrogenated to form oxaloacetate and NADH.
Enzyme: malate dehydrogenase
The last oxidative step produces another molecule of NADH and regenerates oxaloacetate, which accepts a two-carbon fragment from acetyl CoA for another turn of the cycle.
How is pyruvate generated?
Glycolysis in the cytosol converts glucose to pyruvate.
Where does the citric acid cycle take place?
Matrix of the mitochondria
Where does glycolysis take place?
Cytosol
What is the role of NADH and FADH2?
Act as transporters that carry electrons from glycolysis and the krebs cycle to the electron transport chain.
Where are the electrons sourced from for participation in the electron transport chain?
Certain steps in glycolysis and krebs cycle reduce NAD+ and FAD to NADH and FADH2, which carry these electrons (H+) to the electron transport chain.
What happens to pyruvate when oxygen is plentiful?
Converted to acetyl CoA for participation in the TCA cycle.
True or false: Red blood cells cannot perform glycolysis.
False. RBC’s have cytoplasm but no mitochondria. This means they can perform glycolysis but not TCA cycle.
How does pyruvate enter the mitochondrion?
Via transport protein
How is pyruvate converted to acetyl coenzyme A?
Three-carbon pyruvate loses a CO2 molecule. The resulting two-carbon molecule is oxidised, losing two hydrogen atoms. One is electron is donated to NAD+, forming NADH and H+.
Coenzyme A is added, forming the two-carbon molecule acetyl coA.
Enzyme: pyruvate dehydrogenase
What is the net gain from glycolysis and the link reaction?
2 ATP
4 NADH
2 Acetyl CoA
True or false: Pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency is a sex-linked disease
True
What is the most common feature of pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency? What symptoms and complications can arise?
Lactic acidosis. This causes nausea, vomiting, severe respiratory problems, and cardiac arrhythmia.
Why does lactic acid build up in patients with pyruvate dehydrogenase deficiency?
When pyruvate cannot be converted to acetyl coA, NAD+ is regenerated from NADH by reduction of pyruvate to lactate by the enzyme lactate dehydrgenase
Why do neurological problems arise in patients with pyruvate dehdyrogenase deficiency?
If pyruvate cannot be converted to acetyl coA, the TCA cycle cannot proceed.
While alternative metabolic pathways are used in an attempt to produce acetyl coA, an energy deficit remains (especially in the CNS). Energy deficit during neural development leads to congenital brain malformation.
From where does the cell obtain acetyl coA for use in the Krebs cycle?
Primarily, decarboxylation of pyruvate produced from glycolysis.
Fatty acid and amino acid breakdown also produces acetyl coA.
How many steps in the TCA cycle directly produce ATP?
Only one (step 5: succinyl coA to succinate).
However: later on, each NADH makes 3 ATP and each FADH2 makes 2 ATP molecules.
The Krebs cycle produces how many ATP molecules overall?
12 (thats 24 per glucose molecule)
3 NADH, each producing 3 ATP = 9
1 FADH2, each producing 2 ATP = 2
1 ATP made by substrate-level phosphorylation = 1
9 + 2 + 1 = 12
How can pyruvate be used to form glucose?
Pyruvate can be converted into oxaloacetate by pyruvate carboxylase.
Oxaloacetate can then be made into phosphoenolpyruvate (PEP), which can then form glucose.
Which intermediate from the TCA cycle can be used to form fatty acids and sterols?
Citrate
Which intermediate from the Krebs cycle can be used to form Porphyrins and heme?
Succinyl-CoA
Which intermediate from the Krebs cycle can be used to form purines?
Ketoglutarate