I’ve been trying to understand this particular cycle. I am studying physiology and currently haven’t been able to make sense of the complete cycle. I made sense of some parts, but if someone could help me make sense of the generalities so that I can later add the complexities and detail,I’d appreciate it enormously. Thanks.
(I’ve even read previous sooooo)
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When glucose undergoes glycolysis it forms two pyruvate molecules. These lose a CO2 molecule each and react with a substance called coenzyme-A to form acetyl-CoA, the molecule that enters Kreb’s Cycle.
The acetyl part of the molecule reacts with oxaloacetate in the mitochondria to form citrate (which is why Kreb’s is also known as the Citric Acid Cycle) while the coenzyme A is removed to pick up more acetyl groups, and then the citrate undergoes a series of reactions that turn the other two carbons from the original pyruvate into carbon dioxide and then regenerating the oxaloacetate (hence it being cyclic: the product of the last reaction is the reactant in the first).
During this process, some ATP is made along with a couple of high energy molecules (NADH and FADH2) which drive chemiosmosis to produce the bulk of the ATP from cellular respiration.
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