Energy and Metabolism

ID #1090

I am still a little confused on how the electron transport chain works. I understand the part about how the protons are transferred into the inter membrane space and how the proton difference creates ATP. I am confused about what happens to the NADH is the NADH pumped across the intermembrane space and just releases it's hydrogen? I am confused about the NADH's role in electron transport and also what exactly the complexes do in ETC.

No, NADH doesn't "enter" the ETC, it transfers electrons to the first carrier in the chain. In doing so, it is oxidized back to NAD+, which then immediately participates in another Krebs cycle reaction or gets taken back out into the cytoplasm to participate in another round of glycolysis. Once it has dropped off the electrons, those electrons get passed from carrier to carrier, ultimately ending up with oxygen to form water.

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