In brown fat and due to certain drugs (drugs that were used for weight loss in t
ID: 3507583 • Letter: I
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
The brown fat usually present in human children’s and hibernating animals (mammals). This fat used for generation of extra heat required for children after birth. It mostly present in capillaries of blood circulation, it appears brown because it is mostly associated with iron-containing mitochondria. The degradation of fatty acids via beta-oxidation release more amount of reducing equivalents, namely NADH and FADH2.
These molecules enter into electron transport chain (ETC) and produce a protein gradient in inter-membrane space. This proton gradient generates proton motive force, which is used for the synthesis of ATP. Usually, the inner membrane of mitochondria contains an uncoupling protein called thermogenin (uncoupling protein 1), this protein leaks the protein from inter-membrane to mitochondrial matrix. This event decreases the production of ATP and the leaked protons generate extra heat. So, the ADP levels increase and the NADH levels decrease. Uncoupling of electron transport chain from the ATP synthesis increase the rate of glycolysis, decrease the rates of Krebs cycle and the oxygen consumption (since the electron transport chain is interrupted).
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