| Chem 431 |
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Fall 2007 |
| Lecture Notes: 5 December |
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| PREVIOUS |
Notice the central position of Coenzyme Q (aka ubiquinone, CoQ10). The pool of CoQ forms a reservoir where reducing equivalents may be stored between the various inputs to the ETS, such as Complex I or Complex II and Complex III [overhead]:
[FAD Fe-S] Q
[FAD Fe-S] Q
Fatty acyl-CoA DHsoluble [FAD Fe-S] Q
Let's review the structures of the electron transport components: NAD+/NADH (Lecture 24, text Figure 8-41-2); FAD/FADH2 (Lecture 24, text Figure 8-41-3); Coenzyme Q/CoQ2 (text Figure 19-2); and FeS clusters, (text Figure 19-5; note that the Fe2 S2 cluster seen in redox proteins has two links to Cys-S's while the Fe4 S4 cluster has four links to Cys-S's.) Heme; Cytochrome c (text Figure 19-3, 19-4)
With these electron transport components we can create a path for the transfer of electrons from substrate to oxygen, as above, but we want more than a wire: want to use this flow of electrons to run a couple of "motors" to pump protons across the inner mitohondrial membrane, forming an electrochemical gradient [overhead] Note that on this diagram the heights of the boxes indicates the change in standard potential or energy. From this we can see that complexes I [
E°' = 0.360V, G°' = -69.5 kJ/mol] and IV [E°' = 0.580V, G°' = -112 kJ/mol] obviously have enough energy change to support the phosphorylation of ADP to ATP [G°' = -32 kJ/mol], while complex III is marginal [E°' = 0.190V, G°' = -36.7 kJ/mol] and complex II obviously does not have sufficient energy change [E°' = 0.015, G°' = -2.9 kJ/mol].
But how is this energy captured? Mitochondria appear to be using the energy of moving the electrons through this potential gradient to pump protons across the inner mitochondrial membrane. (text Figure 19-7) The resulting proton motive gradient can then be used to make ATP as we shall see later. Lets look at the four complexes and what seems to be occurring in each.
Complex I: (text Figure 19-9) Note that the electrons are received as a pair (a hydride ion) on NADH, but most carriers can only handle single electrons so FMN acts as a transducer, picking up a pair of electrons, but passing them on singly to the FeS centers in this complex. The electrons are then passed singly on to CoQ, which, like FMN can carry either pairs or single electrons. Four H+ are pumped across the inner mitochondrial membrane by complex I. (Note that formally the protons from NADH and H+ can be considered as going to FMNH2 and the UQH2.)
Complex II: (text Figure 19-10) An electron pair enters this complex via FAD going to FADH2. Of course FAD has the same active portion as FMN so it can again carry electrons single or in pairs. FADH2 then passes its electrons on singly to FeS centers, which then pass them on to CoQ. No protons are pumped by this complex. Thus we see the difference in the number of ATPs which are produced by NADH vs. FADH2.
Coenzyme Q (ubiquinone): As we've seen before CoQ is a quinone with a long hydrocarbon tail. It exists as a pool of CoQ molecules dissolved in and diffusing through the lipid bilayer of the inner membrane. Both the quinone (oxidized) and quinol (reduced) form of the cofactor can "flip" in the membrane, thus the quinone ring can freely cross. CoQ can pick up electrons one at a time from either Complex I or II, then diffuse through the bilayer until collision with complex III allows it to pass them singly to that complex (text Figure 19-8).
Complex III: (text Figure 19-11) This complex picks up single electrons from the CoQ pool, taking the quinol form in two steps to the quinone form of the coenzyme. One electron is passed on through FeS centers to Cytochrome c, while a second is recycled via cytochrome b (b566 & b560) to reduce Q to Q- in the Q-cycle (text Figure 19-12) . A second QH2 repeats the cycle and provides the second electron for the first recycled Q. The net result is the oxidation of one QH2 and the transport of four H+ for each pair of electrons flowing through the complex.
Cytochrome c: This cytochrome is a mobile protein carrier attached to the outer side of the inner mitochondrial membrane (a peripheral membrane protein). It transports single electrons from complex III to complex IV.
Complex IV: (text Figure 19-13, 19-14) This complex picks up electrons singly from cytochrome c and transfers them via cytochrome a-CuA to cytochrome a3-CuB where they are passed on to oxygen. Note that four electrons are needed for each oxygen molecule, and that the equivalent of two H+ are transferred out of the matrix for each pair of electrons (4 protons/oxygen). The high DG for this complex, which would allow a significantly larger number of protons to be pumped, assures the completion of the overall reaction of oxygen and NADH to give water.
Overview: (text Figure 19-17)
(For an insider's review and evidence on ETS and OxPhos see M. Saraste Science 283 (5 March 1999) pp 1488-93)
 Pathway Diagrams |
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Last modified 7 December 2007
