Molecules: A Very Short Introduction (Very Short Introductions) by Ball Philip

Author:Ball, Philip [Ball, Philip]
Language: eng
Format: epub, mobi
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: 2003-11-26T16:00:00+00:00

This process is conducted in mitochondria, sausage-shaped compartments distributed many hundred to each human cell (Fig. 21). The first thing a mitochondrion does is convert pyruvate enzymatically to a molecule called acetyl coenzyme A (CoA). The breakdown of fatty acids and glycerides from fats also eventually generates acetyl CoA.

The cycle is a sequence of eight enzyme-catalysed reactions that transform acetyl CoA first to citric acid and then to various other molecules, ending with one called oxaloacetate. This end is a new beginning, for oxaloacetate reacts with acetyl CoA to make citric acid. In some of the steps of the cycle, carbon dioxide is generated as a by-product. It dissolves in the bloodstream and is carried off to the lungs to be exhaled. Thus in effect the carbon in the original glucose molecules is syphoned off into the end product carbon dioxide, completing the combustion process.

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