ELECTRON TRANSPORT CHAIN

Good morning, ma’am, good morning classmates. Our group has been tasked to present about
cellular respiration. As we all know, there are three stages in cellular respiration, but what I am
going to share to you is the last stage which is the electron transport chain otherwise known as
the ETC.
Electron Transport Chain
-movement of electrons through a series of electron transporters that undergo redox
reaction(oxidation-reduction)
Ano nga apala redox reduction? It is an electron transfer reaction which involves oxidation and
and reduction both simultaneously at the same time
Oxidation
There are three definitions you can use for oxidation:
The loss of electrons
The gain of oxygen
The loss of hydrogen

Reduction
Like oxidation, there are three definitions you can use to describe reduction:
The gain of electrons
The loss of oxygen
The gain of hydrogen

The Electron Transport Chain is the set of enzymes which is in the inner mitochondrial
membrane, and it is the main of energy in the aerobic pathway of energy generation.
So, let’s talk about the overview of the electron transport chain first. The mitochondria have
outer mitochondrial membrane and inner mitochondrial membrane. The space between these
membranes is called the intermembrane space. And inside, we have the matrix of the
mitochondria.
If we look at a close section of the membrane structure of the mitochondria, we can see the
structure of the electron transport chain. So, here we have the outer mitochondrial membrane,
the inner mitochondrial membrane, and the intermembrane space.
The inner mitochondrial membrane contains 4 sets of enzyme complexes which are named 1 to
4 in roman numerals.
The matrix of the mitochondria also contains numerous other cycles like Krebs Cycle and Beta
Oxidation. These cycles produce reducing equivalence called NADH and FADH2. These reducing
equivalence contain electrons which are donated to this set of enzyme complexes.
 The electrons then travel from the 1st to the 4th enzyme complex. And in this movement,
energy is generated. This energy is utilized in pumping hydrogen ions into the intermembrane
space from the matrix of the mitochondria. This continuous pumping of hydrogen ions into the
intermembrane space causes the generation of a higher concentration of hydrogen ions in the
intermembrane space as compared to the matrix of the mitochondria. This generates a positive
charge in the intermembrane space and a negative charge in the matrix of the mitochondria.
This is called electro chemical gradient. The hydrogen ions cannot cross against this
electrochemical gradient because the inner mitochondrial membrane is not permeable to ions.
So, here we require a special transporter. The enzyme ATP synthase comes into play. The ATP
synthase transport hydrogen ions into the matrix of the mitochondria and uses the energy from
the flow of hydrogen ions to phosphorylate Adenosine Diphosphate or the ADP into Adenosine
Triphosphate or the ATP.
This is the basis of generation of energy into form of ATP which is the currency of energy in our
body.
Now let’s talk about the various Electron Transport Chain Complexes.
What you see here is the inner mitochondrial membrane which has these ETC complexes. These
complexes are numbered from 1 to 4 in Roman Numerals. And in addition to all the 4
complexes, we two additional prosthetic groups co-enzyme Q (COQ) and the Cytochrome C
(CYT C).
So, let’s talk first about the complex number 1. The complex 1 of the ETC is named as NADH
dehydrogenase complex also known as the NADH Oxido-reductase. The first complex is the L-
shaped protein complex which is present in the inner mitochondrial membrane. It has two
arms. The vertical is located inside the inner mitochondrial membrane while the horizontal arm
is located inside the matrix of the mitochondria.
*We can easily know the function of the enzyme of ETC by just understanding its nomenclature.
The complex is called NADH Dehydrogenase Complex because it is a dehydrogenase which
removes hydrogen. It removes hydrogen from the reduced form of Nicotinamide Adenine
Dinucleotide or the NADH. It is also called complex because it contains Flavin Mononucleotides
and Iron Sulfur compounds.
It is called oxido-reductase because dehydrogenation is an example of oxidation reduction
reaction.
The main job of his complex is to receive electron from NADH and transport it further to the
electron transport chain.
Moving on to the complex II of the ETC, this complex called Succinate Dehydrogenase Complex,
it is called dehydrogenase because it removes hydrogen from compounds. In this, it will remove
hydrogen from the succinate and oxidized it to fumerate which is a step of the Krebs Cycle.
Similarly, it is called a complex because it also contains iron sulfur clusters in addition to
succinate dehydrogenase. The second complex is a part of the Krebs Cycle which catalyzes the
reaction for oxidation of succinate to fumerate. In this reaction, the reducing equalent FADH2
is produced which is utilize for the donation of electrons in the ETC.
The Complex III of the ETC is called the Cytochrome Reductase. It is also known as the Q-
cytochrome C Oxidoreductase.
Cytochromes are group of proteins which have HEME complexes and iron cores.
Complex III contains 3 types of cytochromes. The cytochrome B, cytochrome C1 and the
cytochrome.
The main job of the complex III is to accept electrons from ETC and then transport it to the
cytochrome C.
The cytochrome C then transport it to the Complex IV of the ETC. The complex IV is called the
cytochrome C Oxidase. It is a heme and copper containing complex. Its main job is to oxidize
cytochrome C that is to receive electrons from cytochrome C and then uses these electrons for
the reduction of oxygen to water hence it is called cytochrome oxidase.

So, let’s try to recall and understand how electron transport chain actually works. Here is the
illustration that depicts the membranes structure of the mitochondria as well the organization
of the various electron chain complexes.