TCA cycle and ETC Flashcards
what is the TCA cycle
- The TCA(krebs cycle) is a the centre of metabolism taking part in glucose, fatty acids and amino acids metabolism
what does the TCA need to function
- need a constant supply of substrate
- need oxygen
what substrates can be used in the TCA cycle
- amino acids from transamination to alanine which is converted to pyruvate
- glucose can feed in from glycolysis
- fatty acids can be converted to acetyl-CoA and this enters the TCA cycle
How does the Krebs cycle work briefly
- Oxaloacetate is combined with acetyl-CoA to make citrate, make intermediates including alpha ketoglutarate and this is then converted back to oxaloacetate
what does pyruvate dehydrogenase complex do
- This converts pyruvate into acetyl-CoA
- 3 carbons in pyruvate 2 carbons in acetyl-CoA
- Loose a carbon in terms of carbon dioxide
how many enzymes is pyruvate dehydrogenase made out of
- It is made up of 3 enzymes joined together that is why it is called a complex
what cofactor is used in pyruvate dehydrogenase
- A number of cofactors is used with it such as thiamine pyrophosphate which is derived from vitamin B1, without vitamin B1 this enzyme and a lot of other dehydrogenases do not work
what is vitamin B1 important in
important for energy generation in the cells and deficiency in this effects energy in the cells
whats the role of TCA
- Only occurs in oxidative metabolism
- allows further production of ATP from Amino acids, glucose and FA
- requires constant supply of substrates (carbon compounds in
cycle) and oxygen - occurs in the mitochondria
what is the first enzyme in the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex
pryruvate dehydrogenase
how is the pyruvate dehydrogenase complex controlled
- uses feedback inhibition for example if there are high levels of acetyl-CoA and NADH are high then it is inhibited
- controlled by covalent modification through phosphorylation by both PDH kinase and PKA
- The signalling pathways in terms of glucagon act to phosphorylate, this blocks down the cells need for sugar, insulin causes dephosphorylation of the enzymes and this activates pyruvate dehydrogenase and this turns on glucose metabolism when glucose is present in excess
what are the products of the TCA cycle
- 2 CO2 lost
- GTP produced via substrate level phosphorylation (direct energy of TCA cycle)
- Acetyl-CoA —> oxaloacetate
- 3NADH + FADH2 made (important co-factors used in the Electron transport chain)
what is the reduced NADH and FADH2 used in
- used in the electron transport chain and oxidised back this produces ATP
how does the electron transport chain work
- uses reduced cofactors e. NADH and FADH2 to move protons against their concentration gradient and allow ATP synthase to make ATP (due to passive transport of protons down concentration their new gradient) = PROTON MOTIVE FORCE
what are the complexes in the electron transport chain and what do they do
- Complex I – NADH to UQ
- Complex II – FADH to UQ
- Complex III – UQ to cytochrome C
- Complex IV – cytochrome C to O2 (this is the final electron acceptor and joins with hydrogens from the reduced NADH and FADH2 to produce water)
how do you generate energy from electrons
- Start from a very highly negative redox potential and move towards a more positive redox potential and you can get energy out
- Complex 1 3 and 4 have significant changes in redox potential so this is where energy can go out
what are 2 inhibitors of electron transport chain
- cyanide
- carbon monoxide gas
describe how cyanide works
it is a inhibitor of complex 4 of the electron transport chain
- It blocks this
- Electron transport chain shuts down
- Get back log of electrons
- This restricts the body in making energy, can no longer make energy using the ETC or TCA cycle