TCA cycle Flashcards
Where does the Krebs cycle not take place?
mature red blood cells, as they lack mitochondria
Citric Acid Cycle definition
A series of chemical reactions used by all aerobic organisms to release stored energy through oxidation of acetyl-CoA derived from carbohydrates, fats and proteins into ATP and carbon dioxide
What else does the TCA cycle produce?
precursors of certain amino acids
NADH and FADH2
What is FAD+ an example of?
cofactor
Cofactor definition
a substance whose presence is essential for the activity of an enzyme
Features of FAD+
Bound solidly onto the enzymes they’re involved with
less negative redox potential than NAD
can’t diffuse through membrane, thus reactions must be attached to membrane
lower reducing potential, so feeds electrons into ETC at ubiquinone at complex II
Features of NAD+
higher redox potential
not bound onto enzyme
type of coenzyme
NADH product diffuse to complex I in ETC
What process occurs before TCA ?
pyruvate decarboxylation
Stages of pyruvate decarboxylation
- Pyruvate transported into mitochondrion via specific pyruvate-H+ symport
- Cofactor TPP decarboxylares pyruvate, forming CO2 and a 2C compound, catalysed by pyruvate decarboxylase
- CoA added which is catalysed by dihydrolipoyl transactylase, forming Acetyl CoA
- Formation of NADH, catalysed by dihydrolipoyl dehydrogenase. Two electrons are transferred first to a FAD then to NAD
Brief structure of pyruvate dehydrogenase complex
three subunits: E1, E2 and E3
Lipoamide arm bound to E2 which guides the substrate from one subunit to the next, which ensures that the pyruvate decarboxylation occurs in the right direction
Why pyruvate dehydrogenase is so important?
irreversible reactions, thus become committed to Krebs
beyond PDH glucose cannot be resynthesised
it is inhibited by ATP and stimulated by ADP, thus acts as a key regulator of TCA
What inhibits pyruvate dehydrogenase + importance?
ATP- prevents excess breakdown of unnecessary glucose- inactivated by phosphorylation of a kinase stimulated by high ATP levels
NADH-
How are levels of pyruvate dehydrogenase upregulated?
magnesium, calcium and insulin stimulate PDH phosphatase, dephosphorylating the enzyme, thus activating it
all markers or energetic contractions
What causes poisoning when arsenic is ingested?
arsenite forms stable complex with thiol group of lipoic acid, which is found attached to the E2 group in the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex
leads to the inhibition of pyruvate dehydrogenase, which causes an increase in pyruvate and lactate
1st reaction in TCA + Enzyme + type of reaction
oxaloacetate (4) + acetylcoA (2) –> citrate
water –> CoA + H+
citrate synthase
condensation