Aerobic Respiration: Criticism of the Proton-centric Explanation Involving Rotary Adenosine Triphosphate Synthesis, Chemiosmosis Principle, Proton Pumps and Electron Transport Chain

• Published in: Biochemistry Insights Vol. 11; p. 1178626418818442
• Main Author: Manoj, Kelath Murali
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, England SAGE Publications 01.01.2018; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: 20th century; Adenosine triphosphate; Aerobic respiration; ATP; Authorship; Electron transport; Electron transport chain; Enzymes; Hypotheses; Kinetics; Metabolism; Mitochondria; Organic chemistry; Original Research; Oxidative phosphorylation; Phenomenology; Phosphorylation; Physiology; Proteins; Protons; Pumps; Reaction kinetics; Researchers; Structure-function relationships; Synthesis; Textbooks; heme/flavin proteins; ATP-synthesis; respiratory proteins; electron transport chain; mitochondrial membrane
• ISSN: 1178-6264; 1178-6264
• DOI: 10.1177/1178626418818442

The acclaimed explanation for mitochondrial oxidative phosphorylation (mOxPhos, or cellular respiration) is a deterministic proton-centric scheme involving four components: Rotary adenosine triphosphate (ATP)-synthesis, Chemiosmosis principle, Proton pumps, and Electron transport chain (abbreviated as RCPE hypothesis). Within this write-up, the RCPE scheme is critically analyzed with respect to mitochondrial architecture, proteins’ distribution, structure-function correlations and their interactive dynamics, overall reaction chemistry, kinetics, thermodynamics, evolutionary logic, and so on. It is found that the RCPE proposal fails to explain key physiological aspects of mOxPhos in several specific issues and also in holistic perspectives. Therefore, it is imperative to look for new explanations for mOxPhos.