Name: Ephraim Joash A.

Gaganting Course, Year & Section: BS-BIO A1 1st Year

Cellular Respiration Activity

1. Use the diagram below to make a table to help you summarize and organize the steps in
cellular respiration.

Step Location ATP Production

Glycolysis Cytosol 2 ATP

Citric Acid Cycle Inside the Mitochondria 2 ATP

(Mitochondrial Matrix)

Electron Transport Chain inner membrane of 34 ATP

mitochondria

Chemiosmosis special channels in the

membranes of mitochondria
from the inner to the outer
compartment

a. What is ATP used for in the cell? Give three processes that use ATP.
- ATP is the main source of energy for most cellular processes. The building blocks of ATP
are carbon, nitrogen, hydrogen, oxygen, and phosphorus. Because of the presence of
unstable, high-energy bonds in ATP, it is readily hydrolyzed in reactions to release a large
amount of energy.

- The enzymatic removal of a phosphate group from ATP to form ADP releases a huge
amount of energy which is used by the cell in several metabolic processes as well as in the
synthesis of macromolecules such as proteins. The removal of a second phosphate group
from ATP results in further energy release and the formation of adenosine monophosphate
(AMP).

- When energy is not needed by the organism, the phosphate group is added back to AMP and
ADP to form ATP - this can be hydrolyzed later as per required. Thus, ATP functions as a
reliable energy source for cellular pathways.

Three Processes that uses ATP.

Active Transport

- ATP plays a critical role in the transport of macromolecules such as proteins and lipids into
and out of the cell. The hydrolysis of ATP provides the required energy for active transport
mechanisms to carry such molecules across a concentration gradient. Transport of
molecules into the cell is called endocytosis whilst transport out of the cell is known as
exocytosis.

Cell Signaling

- ATP has key functions both in intracellular and extracellular signaling. It is easily
recognized by purinergic receptors in mammalian tissues - its release from synapses and
axons activates purinergic receptors that modulate calcium and cyclic AMP levels inside the
cell.

- In the central nervous system, adenosine modulates neural development, the control of
immune systems, and of neuron/glial signaling.

- ATP is also involved in signal transduction - its phosphate groups are used up by kinases in
phosphate transfer reactions which activate a cascade of protein kinase reactions.

Muscle contraction
- ATP is critical for the contraction of muscles; it binds to myosin to provide energy and
facilitate its binding to actin to form a cross-bridge. ADP and phosphate are then released
and a new ATP molecule binds to myosin. This breaks the cross-bridge between myosin and
actin filaments, thereby releasing myosin for the next contraction.

b. How do our bodies obtain glucose and other organic molecules for cellular
respiration?

- The proteins, lipids, and polysaccharides that make up most of the food we
eat must be broken down into smaller molecules before our cells can use
them—either as a source of energy or as building blocks for other molecules.
The breakdown processes must act on food taken in from outside, but not on
the macromolecules inside our own cells.

Stage 1

- in the enzymatic breakdown of food molecules is therefore digestion, which

occurs either in our intestine outside cells, or in a specialized organelle within
cells, the lysosome. In either case, the large polymeric molecules in food are
broken down during digestion into their monomer subunits—proteins into
amino acids, polysaccharides into sugars, and fats into fatty acids and
glycerol—through the action of enzymes. After digestion, the small organic
molecules derived from food enter the cytosol of the cell, where their gradual
oxidation begins.

Stage 2

- a chain of reactions called glycolysis converts each molecule of glucose into

two smaller molecules of pyruvate. Sugars other than glucose are similarly
converted to pyruvate after their conversion to one of the sugar intermediates
in this glycolytic pathway.

- During pyruvate formation, two types of activated carrier molecules are

produced—ATP and NADH. The pyruvate then passes from the cytosol into
mitochondria. There, each pyruvate molecule is converted into CO2 plus a
two-carbon acetyl group—which becomes attached to coenzyme A (CoA),
forming acetyl CoA, another activated carrier molecule. Large amounts of
acetyl CoA are also produced by the stepwise breakdown and oxidation of
 fatty acids derived from fats, which are carried in the bloodstream, imported
into cells as fatty acids, and then moved into mitochondria for acetyl CoA
production.

Stage 3

- oxidative breakdown of food molecules takes place entirely in mitochondria.

The acetyl group in acetyl CoA is linked to coenzyme A through a high-
energy linkage, and it is therefore easily transferable to other molecules.
After its transfer to the four-carbon molecule oxaloacetate, the acetyl group
enters a series of reactions called the citric acid cycle.

- Because the energy to drive ATP synthesis in mitochondria ultimately

derives from the oxidative breakdown of food molecules, the phosphorylation
of ADP to form ATP that is driven by electron transport in the mitochondrion
is known as oxidative phosphorylation. The fascinating events that occur
within the mitochondrial inner membrane during oxidative phosphorylation

Summary
- Glucose and other food molecules are broken down by controlled stepwise
oxidation to provide chemical energy in the form of ATP and NADH. These
are three main sets of reactions that act in series—the products of each being
the starting material for the next: glycolysis (which occurs in the cytosol), the
citric acid cycle (in the mitochondrial matrix), and oxidative phosphorylation
(on the inner mitochondrial membrane). The intermediate products of
glycolysis and the citric acid cycle are used both as sources of metabolic
energy and to produce many of the small molecules used as the raw materials
for biosynthesis. Cells store sugar molecules as glycogen in animals and
starch in plants; both plants and animals also use fats extensively as a food
store. These storage materials in turn serve as a major source of food for
humans, along with the proteins that comprise the majority of the dry mass of
the cells we eat.

c. Summarize the main objectives of cellular respiration in your own

words.
- Cellular respiration is the process in which cells break down glucose,
release the stored energy, and use the energy to make ATP. For each
glucose molecule that undergoes this process, up to 38 molecules of ATP
are produced. Each ATP molecules forms when a phosphate is added to
ADP, or adenosine diphosphate. This requires energy, which is stored in the
ATP molecule. When cells need energy, a phosphate can be removed from
ATP. This releases the energy and forms ADP again.

- it provides cells with the energy they need to function. If living things could
not get the energy they need out of food, it would be absolutely worthless.
All living things would eventually die, no matter the quality and amount of
food.

d. Summarize the main objective of glycolysis in your own words.

- Glycolysis produces ATP without the involvement of molecular oxygen

(O2 gas). It occurs in the cytosol of most cells, including many
anaerobic microorganisms (those that can live without utilizing
molecular oxygen). During glycolysis, a glucose molecule with six
carbon atoms is converted into two molecules of pyruvate, each of
which contains three carbon atoms. For each molecule of glucose, two
molecules of ATP are hydrolyzed to provide energy to drive the early
steps, but four molecules of ATP are produced in the later steps. At the
end of glycolysis, there is consequently a net gain of two molecules of
ATP for each glucose molecule broken down. Glycolysis involves a
sequence of 10 separate reactions, each producing a different sugar
intermediate and each catalyzed by a different enzyme.

e. What is the main input for glycolysis? What is the output?

- The main input is glucose molecule with six carbon atoms and is converted into two
molecules of pyruvate. There are also these inputs like NAD+, ADP+Pi and outputs
NADH, ATP. NADH, ATP

2. Use the diagram below to answer the following questions.

a. Recall that fuel molecules are carbon compounds that are capable of being
oxidized. Does this mean these molecules lose electrons or gain electrons? Does
acetyl CoA lose electrons or gain them?
 - When we say oxidation, it is a combination of elements with oxygen. It's also a
reaction of losing electrons and gaining positive charge. The atoms that lost
electrons are said to be oxidized.

- In the diagram, Acetyl CoA: a molecule that conveys the carbon atoms from
glycolysis (pyruvate) to the citric acid cycle to be oxidized for energy
production meaning is loses electrons.

b. Electrons are removed from several molecules in the citric acid cycle. What two
molecules shuttle the electrons? Are these carriers oxidized or reduced?

- NADH and FADH2. They must transfer their electrons to the next pathway in
the system, which will use oxygen meaning these carriers will be oxidize. If this
transfer does not occur, the oxidation steps of the citric acid cycle also do not
occur.

c. Redox reactions occur when electrons are transferred between molecules. The
molecule losing the electron is oxidized and the molecule receiving the electron is
reduced. For each of the following molecules indicate if it is oxidized or reduced and
explain how you can tell.
i. Isocitrate – Oxidized, because from a six-carbon molecule, when oxidized it
produces a five-carbon molecule.
ii. NAD+ - Reduced, from NAD+ to NADH, regulated by negative feedback from
ATP and NADH and by a positive effect of ADP. It includes both oxidation and
decarboxylation steps.
iii. FADH2 – Reduced, its fully oxidize form is FAD.
iv. Malate - The last step in the citric acid cycle regenerates oxaloacetate by
oxidizing malate.

b. Circle the reduced form of the electron transport shuttles:

FAD / FADH2 and NAD+ / NADH
c. Where do the shuttles go after they are reduced?
- NADH and FADH2 go to the electron transport chain, which is located i the cell
membrane of prokaryotes or the inner membrane of eukaryotes.

d. What is the main objective of the citric acid cycle?

- To produce two carbon dioxide molecules, one GTP/ATP, and reduced forms of NADH
 and FADH2 that will be used in Electron Transport Chain.

e. Is CO2 used or produced in the citric acid cycle?

-Produce. (Two molecules of CO2)

3. Complete the table below.

Process Location Compound Compund Net Net Net Other
inside the Used Produced ATP NADH FADH Notable
cell/ Made Made 2 produced
mitochondria Made by the cell

Glycolysis cytoplasm one molecule two 2 ATP  2

of glucose pyruvates molec molecules
ules of NADH

Acetyl Mitochondria Pyruvate acetyl CoA 2 NADH 1 Carbon

CoA l Matrix FADH2 Dioxide
Formati
on
Citric inside acetyl CoA two carbon 2 ATP 3 NADH 1 Two
Acid mitochondria dioxide molecules FADH2 carbon
Cycle
molecules, molecule dioxide
one molecules
GTP/ATP, , One
and reduced GTP, 3
forms of H+
NADH and
FADH2
Oxidativ inside NADH and ATP, 30-34 6 NADH 1 FADH 2GTP
e mitochondria FADH2 NAD+, and ATP 2
Photophos FAD+ molec
phorylatio
ules
n

Total 34-38 13 3 FADH

ATP NADH