Metabolism
on-line - the virtual tutorial room
copyright © 2008 - 2015 David A Bender
How is NADH from glycolysis normally re-oxidised?
We have seen in the exercise on Breathless after sprinting that under anaerobic conditions the NADH that is formed in glycolysis is re-oxidised at the expense of pyruvate being reduced to lactate. However, we have also seen in the exercise on Life-threatening acidosis in an alcoholic - and in a hunger striker given intravenous glucose that under aerobic conditions pyruvate is oxidised to acetyl CoA, and then undergoes complete oxidation to carbon dioxide and water.
If you incubate isolated mitochondria in an oxygen electrode with NADH you do not observe any consumption of oxygen, regardless of how much ADP is added.
(See the exercise on Overheating after overdosing on E - and slimming by taking dinitrophenol for more information on the oxygen electrode).