Electron transport chain

The electron transport chain takes place in the inner mitochondrial membrane and is the final step of aerobic cellular respiration. The proteins involved in the electron transport chain are outlined in Figure 1.

The electron transport chain consists of a series of redox reactions that transfer electrons from NADH and FADH₂ nicotine adenine dinucleotide N A D H, and flavin adenine dinucleotide F A D H two through various intermediates to the final electron acceptor, oxygen (see detailed ETC steps). This process generates an electrochemical gradient that couples the oxidative reactions with the phosphorylation of ADP producing ATP in a process called oxidative phosphorylation.

Figure 1. Proteins in the inner mitochondrial membrane involved in the electron transport chain: Complex I (I), Complex II (II), Complex III (III), Complex IV (IV), ubiquinone (Q), cytochrome c (Cyt C) and ATP synthase. In this image, the mitochondrial matrix is seen above and the intermembrane space is found below the inner mitochondrial membrane.