CELLULAR RESPIRATION

Intro to Cellular Respiration

Cellular Respiration: Cellular respiration is the gradual and controlled release of energy by
breaking down organic compounds to produce ATP ( Adenosine TriPhosphate).
- Cellular respiration involves enzymes that control the process to ensure that energy is
produced when it is required.
- The three main processes of cellular respiration, i.e. glycolysis, the Krebs cycle and the
electron transport chain, generate energy in the form of ATP.

Mitochondria
- There is an inner boundary membrane (Folded Jelly Bean) and an outer boundary
membrane (Jelly Bean)
- The space in between the two membranes is called the intermembrane space
- Matrix- Blue part
- The folds are called Cristae (Diagram shown below)

Minds On Make a list of 10 cellular activities that require the use of ATP
1 Cellular Respiration
2 Muscle Contraction
3 Active Transport; Protein Pumps
4 Heart Pumping
5 Photosynthesis
6 Digestion
7 Thinking
8 Breathing
 9 Contractile Vacuole
10 Metabolic Reactions: Endocytosis, Exocytosis

Understanding ATP
- ATP is a molecule that carries energy within the cell.
- What is unique about the third phosphate bond. (Think electrostatic repulsion between
phosphates)
- Ribose carbons
- It is a nitrogenous base (adenine), ribose pentose sugar, and it has 3 bonded phosphate
groups.
- When the third phosphate group is cut off the molecule's stability increases. That's why
energy is released (Exergonic, Exothermic)
- Making the bond with the third phosphate group is very energy demanding
- The third phosphate is called the terminal phosphate
- ATP is made from 3 methods (Making the bond with the three phosphate groups)
- ATP from cellular respiration is immediately available as a source of energy in the cell.
Without it we would not be able to move, think, digest food, etc
- The structure of ATP is shown below

ATP vs. ADP

- ADP is two phosphate groups bonded, without the terminal phosphate. It is when the
third phosphate is cut off
- To make the ATP, you get energy from somewhere else, (ex plants get energy from the
sun) and then it becomes into ATP which is when the energy gets released

First Law of Thermodynamics

- Energy cannot be created or destroyed; it must be transferred from one form to another.
- Energy can not be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred
- Amount of energy in the universe is constant
- We can convert one type of energy into another (Food energy into mechanical energy,
plugging a fan into the wall is kinetic energy)

Second Law of Thermodynamics

- Entropy of the universe increases with any change that occurs
 - Entropy: the amount of unusable energy (ie. Heat)

Sample Question: Make a connection to one of the laws of thermodynamics

Energy

- The job of cellular respiration is to chop up glucose and break all the bonds within it.
- This releases energy, which is then used to make ATP
- By end of cell respiration you have 6 CO2 molecules and 6 water molecules (H2O)
(Breaking down glucose which is releasing energy)
- Glucose- High energy compound
- Highly exothermic reaction; energy captured to make ATP
- Only 30% of the energy is captured
- 70% of the energy is released as heat (Endotherms)
- ​Cellular respiration uses metabolic pathways to release the energy in bonds
- Converts to ATP and HEAT!

Importance of Enzymes
- Enzymes help us capture energy when breaking glucose
- The breaking of glucose is a combustion reaction in all cells
- While combustion means bursting and burning, the energy in the reaction is releasing
gradually, which is why us people are not bursting from the combustion reaction
- Allow for the gradual release of energy from bonds in glucose
- Allow for some energy to be captured and transformed to ATP
- The rest is released as heat (entropy)
- Important for regulating body temperature
- Important for making it possible to overcome the activation energy for combustion

Redox Reaction
- Glucose is oxidized to carbon dioxide
- Oxygen is reduced to water
- This is a summary of over a hundred reactions

What is the purpose of Cellular Respiration?

- To generate heat
 - To generate cellular energy – ATP
- Process that must occur in all living cells
- ATP cannot be transferred from one cell to the next

Summary of the stages in cellular respiration!

- Glycolysis (tomorrow)
- Krebs Cycle
- Electron Transport Chain
- Chemiosmosis

Did you know…?

- There are 100 TRILLION cells in your body!
- At any given instant, each cell contains about 100 BILLION ATP molecules!
- An active muscle cell uses 600 million ATP molecules each minute!
- For each ATP “the terminal phosphate is added and removed 3 times each minute”

Glycolysis (First CR Part)

- First part, of multiple parts of cellular respiration where we begin to break down the
sugar molecule
- It does not wants to be broken down so we need to destabilize it so it wants to be broken
- If u break it all in one step too much heat would be released and its very stable so we
need to destabilize
- 6C molecules is split into 2 x 3C molecules
- By the end of glycolysis 2 3-carbon compounds
- Pyruvate has three carbons. We get two by the end of glycolysis. We start off with 6
which is glucose
- OCCURS IN THE CYTOPLASM (CAN HAPPEN IN BOTH PROKARYOTIC AND
EUKARYOTIC)

Products of glycolysis
- 2 Pyruvate
- 2 Net ATP (Within glycolysis we consumed ATP and made ATP but by the end we
benefited since we had a net gain)
- 2 NADH
Net ATP
- -2 ATP goes in the process
- We release 4 ATP
- -2 + 4 is 2, hence we end up with a net ATP of 2 ATP
What is NAD+ and NADH → Electron Transporter
- Picks up electrons from one molecule
- Drops it off to another molecule
- Like a shuttle bus for electrons
Is NADH good or bad
- NADH is crucial to cellular respiration
- Picking up electrons from glucose = picking up electron energy
- Dropping them off to the mitochondria = giving an ATP making machine food
- Making ATP = GOOD!

Common Classes Of Enzymes

- Isomerases: Create isomers of the original substrate. (Move bonds around to create
isomers)
- Kinases: Cleave Phosphates (Cut and Cleave)

Ways of making ATP

- i.e 3 types of phosphorylation
- Will need to be able to compare the three types

First Type: Substrate Level Phosphorylation

- Form of ATP synthesis
- Any molecule that has been with inorganic phosphate is subsequently de
- Direct transport of P

Anaerobic cell respiration

- Cell respiration can take place with or without the presence of oxygen
- When it takes place without oxygen it is called anaerobic respiration
- It occurs only in the cell cytoplasm as it involves only glycolysis (to be able to complete
the other steps, oxygen is required).
- Two main types of anaerobic respiration: alcoholic and lactic fermentation.
- Anaerobic respiration generates far less ATP than aerobic respiration, but that will be
discussed in the next section.
- Lactic acid fermentation can be summarized as: Glucose → lactate + 2 ATP molecules
- Alcoholic fermentation can be described as: Glucose → ethanol + carbon dioxide + 2
ATP molecules

Note: Humans have utilized the ability of certain organisms, including yeast and certain bacteria,
to carry out cell respiration without oxygen and produce different types of food and beverages.
 - Yeast respires anaerobically to produce ethanol and CO2 when fermenting raw
ingredients
- The CO2 produced by yeast is used to make bread rise, while the ethanol is evaporated
away during baking.

Key Features: Anaerobic respiration

- Takes place in the cytoplasm
- Takes place without the presence of oxygen
- Generates a smaller amount of ATP (only 2 ATP) than aerobic respiration
- In yeast, it produces alcohol and CO2
- In animal muscle cells, it produces lactate

Aerobic cell respiration

- We breathe in oxygen for a good reason – to support aerobic respiration.
- When oxygen (O2 ) is present, aerobic respiration can yield far more ATP than under
anaerobic conditions, as most of the energy contained in a glucose molecule can be
harvested and converted into ATP
- Main reason for this increased ATP production is that during aerobic respiration, all the
four steps of cellular respiration are completed (in anaerobic respiration only
glycolysis is completed).

Key Features: Aerobic respiration

- Requires oxygen
- Gives a large yield of ATP from oxidation of glucose
- Occurs in the cytoplasm and mitochondria

This following equation sums up aerobic cell respiration…

It is much more efficient to respire aerobically than anaerobically.

Fate Of Pyruvate
3 Pathways
1) Lactic Acid Fermentation-
2) Ethyl Alcohol Fermentation
3) Link Reaction of Pyruvate Oxidation- In mitochondria
The factors that determine the pathway:
- Cell Type: Animal or Plant or Prokaryotic
- Oxygen Availability (Aerobic or Anaerobic)

Fermentation in general
- Occurs during a lack of oxygen
- Anaerobic pathway
- Yields no additional ATP
- Products are considered waste- they cannot contribute to the production of more ATP

1. Lactic Acid Fermentation: Animal Cells

- When a short burst of energy is required
- When muscles consume O2 faster than it can be replenished
- Happens in Cytoplasm
- 2 NADH lost- Oxidized to produce lactate
- Overall Products:
- 2 Lactic Acid Molecules,
- 2 ATP from glycolysis (No additional ATP)
- Lactate can be removed by liver
- Liver converts lactate back to pyruvate
 - Accumulation of lactate in muscles may cause stiffness, soreness, and fatigue

2. Ethyl Alcohol Fermentation: Plant Cells

- Pyruvate is converted to ethanol
- 2 NADH lost
- Happens in mitochondria
- 2 CO2 molecules released
- Overall Products:
- 2 ethanol molecules
- 2 CO2
- 2 ATP from glycolysis (No additional ATP)

Things that rely on this reaction

- Wine
- Yeast
- Beer
- Soy Sauce

3. Link Reaction of Pyruvate Oxidation- In mitochondria

- Happens in Matrix
- First CO2 is released in the link reaction
- Aerobic pathway
- Does not actually need oxygen, but will go this way when it knows there is
oxygen
- Occurs after pyruvate has moved through the mitochondrial membrane: matrix
Main Pathway since oxygen is present
- Results in Acetyl CoA

Y- base, always absorbs

Base- absorbs oxygen

Krebs cycle
So FAR…
PART I: Glycolysis (cytosol)
PART II: Link Rxn: Pyruvate Oxidation (mito matrix)
PART III: Krebs Cycle (mito matrix)
PART IV: ETC (mito cristae)
PART V: Chemiosmosis (mito cristae)
The Krebs Cycle describes the last step of cellular respiration wherein glucose, with the help of
oxygen from the lungs or bloodstream, is broken down into carbon dioxide and water.

Purpose of Krebs Cycle:

- Move electrons to NADH + FADH2
- Also releases CO2 , ATP

Output of Krebs cycle:

For each acetyl-CoA
- 1 ATP - substrate-level phosphorylation
- 2 CO2
- 3 NADH (3Hs)
- 1 FADH2 (2Hs)

Step ATP NADH FADH2 CO2

Glycolysis 2 2 0 0

Link Reaction 0 2 0 2

Krebs Cycle 2 6 2 4

Totals: 4 10 2 6

Purpose of NADH and FADH2

- To transport e-
- All NADH and FADH2 are directed to the electron transport chain (ETC)
- The e- are crucial to the production of ATP

Electron Transport Chain & Chemiosmosis

Electron transport Chain
- Final Stage of aerobic cellular respiration
- Highly Exergonic
- Occurs in the CRISTAE of the mitochondria
- Cristae are the inner folds of mitochondrial membranes
- High surface area → many ETCs
- PURPOSE:
- Create Conc Gradient through a series of redox reactions (In intermembrane
space)

Organization of the electron transport chain

- Components are arranged in order of increasing electronegativity (The ability of
something to pull on electrons)
- NADH dehydrogenase (low)
- Ubiquinone (Q) (shuttle)
- Cytochrome b-c1 complex
- Cytochrome c (shuttle)
- Cytochrome oxidase complex
- Oxygen (high)
Steps
1) NADH drops off 2e-to NADH dehydrogenase
2) Electrons move from one protein to the other; series of redox reactions
3) Each position is increasingly stable – free E is released in the redox process
4) Free E is used to pump H+ ions outside the matrix and into the intermembrane space
5) Electro-chemical gradient is created (H+)
6) Oxygen pulls the 2e- away from the last complex + 2H+ from the matrix 🡪 H2O

Free Energy
Some is energy lost as entropy i.e. HEAT! What law is this referring to?: Second
Some energy is harvested to move H+ through a pump. What law is this referring to?: First

Why is it aerobic?
- Oxygen gas (O2) is final electron acceptor
- Reduced to make H2O
- Thus the ETC can only function in the presence of oxygen
-
CHEMIOSMOSIS

- Result of an electro-chemical gradient in the intermembrane space:

- Electro: higher (+) charge, voltage or potential diff across the memb
 - Chemical: higher # of H+

Proton Motive Force

- Inner membrane is impermeable to H+ ions
- Must pass through proton channels
- As the gradient reduces, free E is released
- Energy (PMF) drives ATP synthesis
- ADP + Pi 🡪 ATP using ATP synthase
- Enzyme for OXIDATIVE PHOSPHORYLATION
- Electrical potential E 🡪 Chemical potential
- Laws of thermodynamics

NADH vs. FADH2

NADH:
- Passes e- pair to NADH dehydrogenase (1st)
- Pumps 3H+ out of the matrix
- Results in 3 ATP per NADH
FADH2:
- Passes e- pair to ubiquinone (2nd)
- Pumps 2H+ out of the matrix
- Results in 2 ATP per FADH2

Misnomer
- Chemiosmosis refers to the “osmosis” of the protons through the membrane
- According to today’s definition of osmosis, this is technically incorrect
- Osmosis refers specifically to the movement of water molecules
Product at end of ETC: water

Where do glucose land at the end of respiration:water