TRICARBOXYLIC ACID

CYCLE
Tricarboxylic acid cycle, also called Krebs cycle and citric acid
cycle, is the second stage of cellular respiration, the three-stage
process by which living cells break down organic fuel molecules
in the presence of oxygen to harvest the energy they need to
grow and divide. This metabolic process occurs in most plants,
animals, fungi, and many bacteria. In all organisms except
bacteria the TCA cycle is carried out in the matrix of intracellular
structures called mitochondria.
The TCA cycle plays a central role in the breakdown, or
catabolism, of organic fuel molecules—(glucose and some other
sugars, fatty acids, and some amino acids) Before these rather large
molecules can enter the TCA cycle they must be degraded into a
two-carbon compound called acetyl coenzyme A (acetyl CoA).
Once fed into the TCA cycle, acetyl CoA is converted into carbon
dioxide and energy.
 TCA C YC L E C O N S I S T O F 8 S T E P S
C ATA LY Z E D B Y 8 D I F F E R E N T E N Z Y M E S

1. When acetyl CoA reacts with the compound

oxaloacetate to form citrate and to release coenzymes A
(CoA-SH). Then, in a succession of reaction

2. Citrate is rearranged to form a isocitrate

3. Isocitrate loses a molecule of carbon dioxide then
undergoes oxidation to form alpha-ketoglutarate

4. Alpha-ketoglutarate loses molecule of carbon dioxide

and is oxidized to form a succinyl CoA

5. Succinyl CoA is enzymatically converted to succinate

6. Succinate is oxidized to fumarate

7. Fumarate is hydrated to produced malate and to end the

cycle

8. Malate is oxidized to oxaloacetate Each complete turn of

the cycle results in the regeneration of Oxaloacetate and the
formation of two molecules of carbon dioxide.
Energy is produced in a number of steps in this cycle of
reactions.

In step 5, one molecule of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the

molecule that powers most cellular functions is produced.

Most of the energy obtained from the TCA cycle, however, is

captured by the compounds nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
(NAD+) and flavin adenine dinucleotide (FAD) and converted
later to ATP.
Energy transfers occur through the relay of electrons from one substance to
another, a process carried out through the chemical reactions known as oxidation
and reduction, or redox reactions. (Oxidation involves the loss of electrons from a
substance and reduction the addition of electrons.) For each turn of the TCA cycle,
three molecules of NAD+ are reduced to NADH and one molecule of FAD is reduced
to FADH2. These molecules then transfer their energy to the electron transport chain,
a pathway that is part of the third stage of cellular respiration. The electron transport
chain in turn releases energy so that it can be converted to ATP through the
process of oxidative phosphorylation.
In eukaryotes, the citric acid cycle takes place in the matrix of
the mitochondria, just like the conversion of pyruvate to acetyl
CoA

In prokaryotes, these steps both take place in the cytoplasm.

The citric acid cycle is a closed loop; the last part of the
pathway reforms the molecule used in the first step.