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Concept
Cellular respiration
Summary
Cellular respiration is the process by which biological fuels are oxidised in the presence of an inorganic electron acceptor, such as oxygen, to drive the bulk production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), which contains energy. Cellular respiration may be described as a set of metabolic reactions and processes that take place in the cells of organisms to convert chemical energy from nutrients into ATP, and then release waste products.
The reactions involved in respiration are catabolic reactions, which break large molecules into smaller ones, producing large amounts of energy (ATP). Respiration is one of the key ways a cell releases chemical energy to fuel cellular activity. The overall reaction occurs in a series of biochemical steps, some of which are redox reactions. Although cellular respiration is technically a combustion reaction, it is an unusual one because of the slow, controlled release of energy from the series of reactions.
Nutrients that are commonly used by animal and plant cells in respiration include sugar, amino acids and fatty acids, and the most common oxidizing agent is molecular oxygen (O2). The chemical energy stored in ATP (the bond of its third phosphate group to the rest of the molecule can be broken allowing more stable products to form, thereby releasing energy for use by the cell) can then be used to drive processes requiring energy, including biosynthesis, locomotion or transportation of molecules across cell membranes.
Aerobic respiration requires oxygen (O2) in order to create ATP. Although carbohydrates, fats and proteins are consumed as reactants, aerobic respiration is the preferred method of pyruvate production in glycolysis, and requires pyruvate to the mitochondria in order to be fully oxidized by the citric acid cycle. The products of this process are carbon dioxide and water, and the energy transferred is used to make bonds between ADP and a third phosphate group to form ATP (adenosine triphosphate), by substrate-level phosphorylation, NADH and FADH2.
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Oxidative phosphorylation
Oxidative phosphorylation (UK ɒkˈsɪd.ə.tɪv, US ˈɑːk.sɪˌdeɪ.tɪv ) or electron transport-linked phosphorylation or terminal oxidation is the metabolic pathway in which cells use enzymes to oxidize nutrients, thereby releasing chemical energy in order to produce adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In eukaryotes, this takes place inside mitochondria. Almost all aerobic organisms carry out oxidative phosphorylation. This pathway is so pervasive because it releases more energy than alternative fermentation processes such as anaerobic glycolysis.
Phosphorylation
In biochemistry, phosphorylation is the attachment of a phosphate group to a molecule or an ion. This process and its inverse, dephosphorylation, are common in biology. Protein phosphorylation often activates (or deactivates) many enzymes. Phosphorylation is essential to the processes of both anaerobic and aerobic respiration, which involve the production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the "high-energy" exchange medium in the cell.
Lipoic acid
Lipoic acid (LA), also known as α-lipoic acid, alpha-lipoic acid (ALA) and thioctic acid, is an organosulfur compound derived from caprylic acid (octanoic acid). ALA is made in animals normally, and is essential for aerobic metabolism. It is also manufactured and is available as a dietary supplement in some countries where it is marketed as an antioxidant, and is available as a pharmaceutical drug in other countries. Lipoate is the conjugate base of lipoic acid, and the most prevalent form of LA under physiological conditions.