Powering the Cell: Mitochondria

A beautiful XVIVO short film illustrating the power generation inside a cell's mitochondria.
zombieatersays...

>> ^conan:

useless without explanation. could also be a moby music video.


Well, being a biology professor let me try and help you out...

0:13 - 0:22 - mitochondria

0:23 - 0:29 shows glucose (long blue string) with associated phosphates floating in the cytoplasm. I believe those are phosphates (?) coming off as it enters the mitochondrion. Though there should only be 1 phosphate, so this may be incorrect.

0:30 - 0:32 show the extramembranous proteins on the exterior of the mitochondrion.

0:37 we enter the mitochondrion.

0:38 - 0:47 we float through the mitochondrion. Notice the green double-helixed DNA at the left and bottom of the screen. This is mitochondrial DNA. I believe those other colored things floating around are later molecules from the Krebs Cycle - they could be miscellaneous intermediary molecules such as oxaloacetate and citrate.

0:48 - 0:54 we see the cristae (inner foldings) of the mitochondrion with the transmembranous proteins along it. The small molecules floating around are ADP and ATP.

0:55 - 0:59 we see NADH and FADH2 floating to a transmembranous protein (purple) and becoming oxidized, losing their electron. The green/blue colored sea on the bottom of the screen is the membrane (phospholipids).

1:00 - 1:01 we flip to the opposite side of the membrane, to the outer membranous space. The tentacle-looking things is part of the membrane, the phospholipid bilayer.

1:02 - 1:07 I'm not entirely sure which part this is...if I had to guess I'd say it was an electron carrier.. perhaps ferredoxin transporting electrons from protein to protein in the electron transfer chain, which is why it glows (electron-rich) as it moves from protein to protein.

1:07 - 1:10 we see millions of protons flowing DOWN through the transmembranous proteins, into the outer membranous space (bottom) from the matrix (top). This creates a hypertonic concentration of protons in the outer membranous space.

1:10 - 1:14 we see ATP synthase, the main energy-producing enzyme that rotates on the cristae (part of the electron transport chain). This enzyme has a stationary portion and a rotating portion (purple and part of the brown at the top). When protons flow back into the matrix from the intermembranous space, ATP synthase rotates, creating energy. You can see the dull yellow-colored (energy-low) ADP getting transformed (being phosphorylated) into the bright white-colored (energy-high) ATP.

1:15 - 1:21 we see the phoshporylation of ATP up close. A phosphate is added to ADP to produce ATP. This is done by ATP synthase via the energy produced by the movement of protons.

1:22 - 1:29 just an overview of the whole phosphorylation process. You can see the energy-rich ATPs moving into the outer-membranous space through pores in the membrane.

1:30 - 1:32 shows a close-up of this ATP movement, to the outer-membranous space, and eventually out of the mitochondrion to be used by the cell for energy.

acampossays...

The idea behind this animation is to help students think and learn about the process of Oxidative Phosphorylation. That is why the video doesn’t have any explanation. We, in the classroom (General biology, biochemistry, microbiology and others), study cellular respiration and watch the video. Unfortunately, many students will search the internet to get the “correct explanation” rather that study and think as an attempt to get an A in the assignment. So, explanations like this do not really help the educational system not only because they are not precise (many mistakes and misinterpretations can be found) but also because it encourages students to cheat in their assignments. Wouldn’t be better to ask people to study rather than tell them what they are watching?

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