What reaction of the TCA cycle is, in part, driven by oxidative phosphorylation rather than a difference in free energy? The Role of Oxidative Phosphorylation in Driving the Reactions of the Tricarboxylic Acid Cycle

How Oxidative Phosphorylation Drives the Tricarboxylic Acid Reactions

Most organisms’ aerobic metabolism is controlled by the tricarboxylic acids (TCA) cycles. It’s responsible for the production of ATP and other energetic molecules as well as precursors to other metabolic pathways. TCA cycles are a set of eight enzyme reactions that involve the oxidation and reduction of substrates. Reddy and colleagues (2016) have found that several of the reactions within the TCA cycle can be attributed to oxidative-phosphorylation (OxPhos), rather than an increase in free energy. OxPhos refers to the transfer of electrons from a substrate into molecular oxygen. This results in the formation ATP. The electron transport chain includes a number of redox reaction that allows electron transfer. OxPhos plays a role in TCA cycles such as succinate to fumarate conversion and succinyl-CoA conversion (Fang et. al. 2020). These reactions lead to the creation of ATP by electrons being transferred from succinate or?-ketoglutarate. It is evident that OxPhos plays a significant role in the TCA cycle’s reactions. Cont….