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. 2022 May 18;10:887764. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2022.887764

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Copyright © 2022 Hanna, David, Touahri, Fleming, Screaton and Schuurmans.

This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

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Electron transport chain (ETC). The ETC generates ATP using the reducing agents NADH and FADH2, metabolic byproducts of the TCA cycle that donate electrons to the ETC. Electrons are shuttled through four transmembrane complex proteins (I-IV) in the IMM. NADH binds to complex I while FADH2 binds to complex II, initiating electron flow. The ETC uses electron transfer to pump a proton into the intermembrane space. This voltage gradient generates a proton motive force that drives O₂-coupled ATP generation via ATP synthase, termed oxidative phosphorylation (OXPHOS). OXPHOS generates ∼30–38 ATP molecules per molecule of glucose.