What I am interested in knowing is something that I haven't seen actually
said in any books. In oxidative phosphorylation two electrons from an NADH
molecule are passed on to the NADH-Q reductase complex and then pass to the
cytochrome reductase complex and cytochrome oxidase complex via carriers.
The pair of electrons passing through these three complexes results in
three H+ ions being pumped across the inner mitochondrial membrane from the
matrix to the intermembrane space. What I have never seen actually said is
whether or not it is these three complexes themselves that actually do the
pumping, functioning as a port, or whether another complex performs this
function. Also does a substance like rotenone block the pathway by
preventing the pair of electrons from being transferred from the NADH-Q
reductase to the coenzyme Q or does it bind one of these two substances
(which one?) and disable the transfer, or soak up the electrons itself and
get rid of them somewhere else?
