In brown fat and due to certain drugs (drugs that were used for weight loss in t

Question

In brown fat and due to certain drugs (drugs that were used for weight loss in the past) the inner mitochondrial membrane becomes leaky to hydrogen ions. If the inner membrane of the mitochondrial is leaky, then the electron transport chain is said to be “uncoupled” from ATP synthesis. In brown fat, this leads to heat production instead of ATP synthesis. What would be your predication for the levels of ADP, ATP, and NADH? Explain. What would be the rates of glycolysis, Krebs cycle, electron transport chain and oxygen consumption? Explain the mechanism to your answer and your reasoning.  

Explanation / Answer

Proton leaks in the inner mitochondrial membrane causes backflow of protons. It means there will reduction of protons occur. It causes less production of ATP but increased level of ADP in the mitochondria. The increased ADP amount occurs due to its no use in the mitochondria. There will also reduction occur for NAD+ into NADH because of low protons. The overall effect makes less production of energy currency for cells.

The glycolysis will increase because of increased level of ADP. Krebs’s cycle will also get in high speed due to its increased substrate- the pyruvate. The rate of electron transport chain will reduce due to less proton gradient. However, oxygen consumption will increase because of presence of electron carriers; these do not get affected. More electrons will make more oxygen consumption.

Related Questions

Navigate

• Browse (All)
• Browse I
• Subjects

Integrity-first tutoring: explanations and feedback only — we do not complete graded work. Learn more.